Chief Justice ready to bare all–lawyer

“He has reached a point of no return. If he gets convicted, he would gladly accept it. If he gets acquitted, that will be a blessing from God.”

Asked if the Chief Justice was prepared to bare all and answer the allegations thrown at him, even the rumors about his purported extramarital affairs, Esguerra replied, “Yes.”

In a meeting with his lawyers on Tuesday morning, embattled Chief Justice Renato Corona talked about how he had decided to cross the Rubicon and testify in his impeachment trial after an emotional meeting with his wife, Cristina, and daughter Carla Corona-Castillo.

“The Chief Justice asked for a minute for him to talk with Carla and his wife. We just left them in one room. After that, he met with us in a bigger room,” said Ramon Esguerra of the somber gathering in the law office of one of the counsels.

“Before he told us of his decision, we were a little bit anxious because we didn’t know what he wanted to tell us. But our faces brightened when he finally announced his decision,” Esguerra told the Inquirer.

Carla cried, said Esguerra, “out of pity for her father.”

“You have to remember that he had his (heart) bypass operation a few years ago. He’s not really in the best of health because he’s regularly taking his medication,” the lawyer said.

He said Corona, 63, hoped that his appearance, principally to reply to charges that he had $10 million in foreign currency deposits, would be a “turning point.”

“I really don’t know in what way this can influence each of the senators. But I guess the call from a number of them  to take a stand was considered by the Chief Justice,” he said.

Corona, who appeared indignant during the meeting, had realized that the accusations against him will not stop unless he speaks before the Senate tribunal, said Esguerra.

Morales to testify

Defense lawyers during the trial on Tuesday afternoon announced that Corona would testify if the Senate tribunal subpoenaed Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales and 11 others in connection with the purported dollar and euro deposits.  Morales said Wednesday she would testify in the hearing.

Enrile agreed to issue the subpoenas and granted a two-day break requested. The trial, which started on Jan. 16, resumes on Monday.

The defense lawyers said the decision to testify was reached after Corona saw copies of documents submitted to the Senate court by Harvey Keh, leader of a good-governance advocacy group and a supporter of President Aquino. The papers purportedly showed that Corona had amassed $10 million in his bank accounts, the lawyers said.

Enrile factored in decision

Corona has denied the existence of the supposed accounts and was incensed when he got hold of the Keh documents, the lawyers said.

Also a factor in the decision to testify was the hectoring the defense got on Monday, at the resumption of the trial after a six-week break, from Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, said Esguerra.

Enrile scolded the lawyers for presenting what he said were witnesses whose testimonies he considered irrelevant to the issue that Corona had fudged entries in his statement of assets and liabilities (SALN).

Enrile wants to wrap up the proceedings by the end of the month. A two-thirds vote, or 16, is needed to convict Corona.

Resignation reports

“We’re hoping that with his decision to take the stand, the senators (who may vote for conviction) will change their mind. I would like to think not only did they want to hear him and share his testimony, but they want something reasonable, plausible and believable … can form or serve as basis for their judgment.”

Esguerra played down media reports that Corona may opt to resign if the Senate acquitted him or if he finds that the evidence against him is strong to warrant a conviction.

He said Corona had prepared himself for the consequences should the Senate declare him guilty of culpable violation of the Constitution.

“That has been clear to him from the very beginning,” the defense lawyer said. “He’s not sure of how things would turn out. He’s hoping that there will be a fair and credible trial. He expects to have a fair judgement.”

Esguerra said the defense was counting on Enrile’s assurance that Corona would be respected.

“I think … the picture will be clear when the Chief Justice takes the stand,” he said.

Esguerra said Corona’s wife feared that her husband may not be able to endure the “very stressful situation that he finds himself in.”

“On the other hand, the Chief Justice was very concerned about his loved ones … especially his grandchildren. It’s a mutual anxiety for each other,” he said.

“(Corona came to) a realization that he can’t allow this to go on any further, to sacrifice the peace of his loved ones and to be further disturbed by these vicious attacks.”

The ‘last straw’

Esguerra said that Keh’s allegation was the “last straw.”

“Everything changed when the Chief Justice learned about this new fabricated bank documents. He was more than mad. He was fuming mad when he examined the documents,” he said.

“This is too much. This has to end,” Esguerra quoted the Chief Justice as saying.

He said Corona described as “phony” Keh’s papers.

Asked if chief counsel Serafin Cuevas and the other lawyers who had opposed Corona’s taking the stand had opposed the decision to testify, Esguerra said: “No. We saw that he realized the importance of him testifying to address the clamor.”

“He’s been maimed, almost dying. But he’s still being kicked endlessly by his detractors. To him, that’s the height of it all and that he must end it,” he said.

Esguerra also revealed that the defense was set to conclude its  presentation of evidence on Tuesday if Enrile prohibited them from bringing to the witness stand the two Quezon City court officials who testified on the sale of the Basa-Guidote Enterprises Inc.

He said a lawyer-accountant, who helped Corona prepare his SALN, was supposed to be the last defense witness.

“After what happened (on Monday), we realized that it was the end for us. We need to conclude sooner or later. So we realized that we should confront the issues and try not to dodge them anymore,” he said.