Lawmakers want Ombudsman to take a stand

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales

Some members of the House prosecution team are considering calling Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales as a rebuttal witness in the Senate trial of impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona.

The plan is to ask Morales to provide information on Corona’s alleged $10-million bank account that her office is investigating.

But the lead prosecution counsel, Iloilo Representative Niel Tupas Jr., said on Monday that no decision on Morales’ appearance in the Senate has yet been made. “We still need to discuss [this],” Tupas said. “It would also depend on the presentation of evidence by the defense,” said Tupas in a text message to the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Corona’s trial resumes on May 7.  The defense will continue its presentation of its case, but the emergence of new evidence that may have been unearthed by the Ombudsman may give new life to the prosecution’s attempt to expose Corona’s alleged US-dollar bank accounts in Philippine Savings Bank (PSBank). With reports from Gil Cabacungan and Cynthia D. Balana