SC justice doesn’t loathe handling Corona petition to stop impeachment trial

MANILA, Philippines—A justice of the Supreme Court said Tuesday that there was no reason to shy away from handling the case of his own superior.

Associate Justice Martin Villarama said, “Lahat na lang ba kami tatakbo (Will all of us be running away from this case)?” when asked for a reason why he accepted to handle the petition filed by Chief Justice Renato Corona. Villarama handles the petition of Chief Justice Renato Corona that seeks to stop the impeachment proceedings against him and nullify the articles of impeachment.

“Imagine handling a case against your superior,” Villarama told reporters after meeting law school deans at the University of Santo Tomas.

The Supreme Court gave the Chief Justice 10 days to submit a reply on the comment made by the government on his petition.

“We asked him [Corona] to submit a reply in 10 days. That’s his procedural right. After the government’s comment is his reply,” he explained.

Government lawyers, in their comment, said Corona had no constitutional or statutory right to privacy and confidentiality when it comes to his bank deposits, government lawyers told the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

In a 52-page comment submitted by the Office of the Solicitor-General on behalf of the Senate of the Philippines sitting as Impeachment Court and the House Panel of Prosecutors, they told the high court that it had no jurisdiction to act on the petition filed by Corona.

Through his lawyers, Corona, in his petition, asked the high court to stop the impeachment proceedings and nullify the articles of impeachment.

The petition noted that the impeachment court should not have proceeded to trial on the basis of the complaint, which “is riddled with constitutional defects too numerous to withstand even cursory legal scrutiny.”