Defense confident Corona will be acquitted despite survey
MANILA, Philippines – Chief Justice Renato Corona will be acquitted despite a recent survey showing that 47 percent of Filipinos are of the view that he is guilty, his lawyer said Tuesday.
“I would be very cautious against citing surveys as the basis for the outcome as you know from our point of view, this is a matter of law and evidence,” Jose Roy III told reporters.
The results of the Pulse Asia survey, released Tuesday, showed that of the 47 percent, 33 percent believed that Corona was probably guilty while 15 percent said they were certain he was guilty. Meanwhile, 43 percent were uncertain if Corona was guilty or not.
Roy said he believed the senator-judges would not be swayed and would honor the oath they took when they first began the trial.
“I refer you back to the oath of the senator-judges which says, ‘I shall do impartial justice according to the constitution and the laws of the Philippines,’ [and] not according to what the Filipino people believe is popular,” Roy said.
“We think that that is the most important standard and that, at the end of the day, the senators will honor their oath,” Roy added.
“I think the tide is in our favor,” Roy answered when asked if he thought the survey from Feb. 26 to March 9, 2012, was biased for the prosecution because the defense has not yet begun their presentation of evidence.
“Our principal concern is evidence and the law. Public opinion can be affected by many things, but [the] evidence should be able to speak clearly for the innocence of the Chief Justice. I think we are well on our way to accomplishing that,” Roy said.
“As far as surveys go, there are also surveys that have shown that the acceptance of an acquittal is steadily growing,” Roy said. “I think that the trend has been steadily in favor of the acquittal of the Chief Justice,” he added.
“We think that we are carefully and surely presenting the basis for the acquittal and we expect that we will be able to present a credible explanation for what seems to be unclear to a lot of people. That is all that the defense is trying to do,” Roy said.
