Citing fears that their clients might be subjected to intense grilling and public ridicule, the defense panel on Friday said it might not call Chief Justice Renato Corona and his wife Cristina to the witness stand, after all.
Defense lawyers Tranquil Salvador III and Rico Paolo Quicho said that Corona and his wife Cristina, who have already been “stripped in public” by the impeachment trial, would rather risk a potential public backlash than be subjected to intense grilling and ridicule at the Senate impeachment court.
The defense’s latest move came amid calls on Friday by leaders of a Jesuit-led religious organization and a Catholic schools’ association for the Chief Justice to open his dollar accounts, take a leave of absence from the Supreme Court and personally testify in the impeachment trial.
In a two-page letter to Corona delivered to the Supreme Court, the Simbahang Lingkod ng Bayan (SLB) and the Catholic Educators Association of the Philippines (CEAP) urged Corona to “make good on his word and set his pronouncements into action.”
In the letter, the SLB and CEAP urged the Chief Justice to make good his word, testify, and open his dollar accounts. The SLB is a Church-based network of religious and lay individuals organized by the Jesuit order, that also runs Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City, Corona’s alma mater from his elementary years to law school.
The CEAP is the largest educational association in the country with 1,290 member-institutions and has close links with the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines’ Episcopal Commission on Catechesis and Catholic Education, which is chaired by Lingayen-Dagupan Archibishop Socrates Villegas.
“We believe it is only by truth-telling that you can prove that your actions are based on public responsibility. The impeachment court will be a good, if not the best, venue for truth-telling,” the groups added.
No need
But the defense lawyers said there is no need for the couple’s testimony for now. The battleground, the lawyers said, is Article 2—Corona’s alleged failure to disclose his statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) as well as his wealth—that could very well be explained by other witnesses and other documents.
“We’re apprehensive that if we bring them in, any question can be propounded,” Salvador said. “They could be put to shame (hiyain). That’s what we’re trying to avoid,” the lawyer said in a briefing at Columbian Plaza in Paco, Manila.
Quicho added that though the decision for the Corona couple not to testify was not yet final, “We feel that as of this time, there is no need or urgency for them to testify.”
Quicho said there was “no hard and fast rule” that the accused should testify in court to prove himself or herself innocent of the charges. “It’s the obligation of the prosecution to prove that (Corona) really violated something. There’s presumption of innocence until proven guilty,” he said.
16 witnesses
After presenting 16 witnesses in the last two weeks of trial, the lawyers said they had covered “35 to 40 percent” of Article 2, which could be further explained by witnesses other than the Coronas and documentary evidence, they said.
“If you look at the evidence we’ve so far presented, the issue [on Article 2] has become clear. And once we resume the trial, there are other witnesses who will explain the SALN issue… If that is the only issue, the testimony of Chief Justice Corona and Cristina Corona is no longer needed,” Quicho said.
Among the defense’s evidence was former Manila Mayor Lito Atienza’s testimony on Thursday, saying that the city government purchased in 2001 the P34.7-million property from Basa-Guidote Enterprises Inc. (BGEI), a corporation owned by the family of Cristina Corona.
The company had figured prominently in the 34 days of the impeachment trial, with Corona declaring that he had an P11-million loan or cash advance from BGEI and listed it in his SALN as among his liabilities.
When a bank official testified that Corona withdrew P32.6 million from Philippine Savings Bank on the day he was impeached on Dec. 12 last year, the defense had been quick to say that the amount came from the BGEI property in Manila.
Backlash feared
Salvador conceded that the Chief Justice could face a backlash if he doesn’t testify, but that he would rather risk it than be subjected to ridicule. “There’s no factual certainty that (the ridicule) will happen. (But) those are the risks that we may take at the end of the day.”
On Corona’s pronouncements that he would face the charges at the proper time, Quicho said that as he understood it, the Chief Justice vowed to face the charges, but in consultation with his battery of lawyers.
‘In due time’
The SLB and CEAP letter addressed to the Chief Justice said: “You have made numerous pronouncements that you will open them in ‘due time.’ At this time when the people’s search for truth has zeroed in on your statement of assets and liabilities and net worth and bank records, there is no more appropriate time to open your dollar accounts than now.”
The SLB and CEAP also called on Corona to take a voluntary leave of absence until such time when the impeachment court renders its decision.
“We believe your continued presence in, and influence upon the Supreme Court which makes various decisions in relation to your own trial, will result in a process that cannot be deemed fair nor credible,” the letter said.
Letter to SC justices
About 20 SLB and CEAP officials as well as student leaders from Ateneo, De La Salle University, the University of the Philippines, University of the East, Philippine Normal University, Polytechnic University of the Philippines and Pamantasan Lungsod ng Muntinlupa gathered in front of the Supreme Court at around 11 a.m. yesterday to wait for the letter to be received.
The letter was delivered by Fr. Jose Quilongquilong, SJ, rector of the Loyola House of Studies in Ateneo where the SLB maintains its headquarters; SLB directors Bro. Erik John Gerilla, SJ, and Bro. Mark Lopez, SJ, and CEAP advocacy officer Butch Evarola.
The SLB and CEAP also sent a separate letter to the 14 justices of the Supreme Court calling on them to “re-assess [your] stance on the matter of the confidentiality of the dollar accounts of the Chief Justice and on the restrictions on… all court personnel to participate in the trial as witnesses.”
Attached to the letters were a joint statement titled “Integrity, Truth and Public Trust,” expressing support for the impeachment process and calling on the public to “collectively reflect” on the impeachment issues.
The statement was first presented during a “Mass for Truth” held on March 11 at the San Jose Seminary inside the Ateneo campus and signed by more than 100 leaders of various religious associations, nongovernment organizations, student bodies, political parties and cause-oriented groups.
The Senate adjourned this week for the Holy Week, and will resume sessions on May 7. With a report from Jerome Aning