Battle of retired justices: Cuevas vs Carpio-Morales

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales and Corona lead defense counsel Serafin Cuevas. PHOTO BY: ALEX NUEVAESPAÑA / PRIB / SENATE POOL

MANILA, Philippines—Lead defense counsel Serafin Cuevas may have found his match in Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales.

Cuevas and Morales—both retired associate justices of the Supreme Court — engaged in heated exchanges on Day 37 of the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona. But just as Morales, 70, showed up at her feistiest, the 83-year-old Cuevas was not exactly at his sharpest.

Cuevas was repeatedly rebuffed, scolded and even taunted while conducting a direct examination of Morales for nearly an hour. In the end, Morales proved to be a tough nut to crack, even by a seasoned litigator like Cuevas.

She repeatedly told the court that she was already sounding like “a broken record” when asked by the defense to respond to certain questions.

Cuevas quizzed Morales on a variety of issues, particularly her investigation of the Chief Justice in connection with his purported $10-million bank deposits, an allegation Corona has vehemently denied.

But Morales stood her ground, maintaining that her office was mandated to investigate even the country’s highest magistrate. While Cuevas was uncharacteristically calm throughout the questioning, Morales appeared combative.

At one point, she raised her voice and argued with Cuevas, prompting him to ask the Senate to “admonish” her.

“I am not arguing. I was just explaining,” she retorted.

At the outset, Morales appeared prepared to do combat.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, the presiding officer, declared Morales as a “hostile” witness after lengthy exchanges between Cuevas and Morales.

When asked if Corona could be likened to an accused in the context of the Ombudsman investigation, Morales lectured Cuevas: “You become an accused only when you are indicted in court.”

Morales sounded irritated when Cuevas asked why her office was “compelling” the Chief Justice to respond to the complaint and in effect be a witness against himself, proscribed under the Bill of Rights. She cited Section 26 identifying such power under the Ombudsman Act.

“Are you assailing the constitutionality of Section 26?” she asked Cuevas.

Enrile interjected and told Cuevas not to “argue with the witness.” The senator told him: “You are asking for a legal opinion. That is a legal characterization. We are dealing with facts here.”

Morales later said she was sounding “like a broken record” when asked by Cuevas about the documents her office got from the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC). She earlier told the court that information on the alleged $10-million deposits was not mentioned in the complaints, but came from the AMLC.

Cuevas had elicited an admission from Morales that she did not declare that she had documents against Corona from the AMLC when she asked him to respond to the charge brought before her office which was based on newspaper reports.

In one instance, the Ombudsman appeared to be laying a trap when Cuevas brought up the issue that foreign currency deposits were supposed to be confidential.

“So, you are saying that these accounts exist because you’re saying that these are confidential?” she asked him, to which Cuevas replied: “No, I’m not saying (that). It is your answer that there are reports to these effects.”

Cuevas was suggesting that the evidence could be illegal under the anti-money laundering law, which has specified that dollar accounts could only be revealed under a court order on a case under litigation.

The Supreme Court has issued a temporary restraining order on Corona’s purported dollar accounts on a petition by PSBank, which cited confidentiality of bank deposits.

Asked by Cuevas if she had another impeachment complaint in mind, she replied: “Possibly for impeachment in December?”

“She knows what she is saying. She’s good. Bow,” said Senate President Pro-Tempore Jinggoy Estrada in a text message.

Senator Gregorio Honasan described, in a separate text message, Morales as “formidable, competent.”

Sen. Francis Escudero said, “It seems that Cuevas did not score a point.”

“The trial has leveled up,” said a Senate staff member, Michael Caber.—With a report from Michael Lim Ubac