Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines – Chief Justice Renato Corona’s impeachment trial is not the proper venue to tackle the fears of some senators of the supposed vast powers of the Ombudsman, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said Wednesday.
Belmonte said he understood the senators’ concerns over the purported vast powers of Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales but said that the trial was not the proper venue to debate these.
“That requires a discussion of its own, and not by us in the course of an impeachment trial. Let’s just concentrate on the trial at hand,” he told reporters in a restaurant in Pasay City.
House Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales III said he might agree with observations that the powers of the Ombudsman were “unbridled” and “unlimited,” but the trial was not “the proper forum.”
On Tuesday, several senators rose to question Morales’ vast investigative powers, saying, for example, that to ask for bank records of lawmakers from the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) without a court order, among others things, could infringe on basic rights enshrined in the Constitution.
Morales dropped a bombshell when she testified on Monday that Corona kept $12 million in accounts in at least five banks from 2003 to 2012, citing documents from the AMLC.
Belmonte said Morales should not be faulted for exercising her powers to obtain documents from the AMLC.
“That’s with the Ombudsman. And she tried to get as much information as she could, and she got it and she made it public and gave it to the Senate. I think she should not be criticized for that,” he said.
“Perhaps both the Senate and the House separately will want to deal with this in terms of new laws, amendments of laws, changes in the rules of the House and the Senate to encompass things we have not anticipated in this trial.”
Second look at AMLC
Belmonte said he did not believe Morales abused her authority.
“But should we leave it at that? Let’s revisit it if necessary in the House and the Senate. But it’s clear in the laws cited she has those powers. We may get nervous that she has those powers. Ok, let’s amend the law, let’s clarify the law, let’s limit the law. But as of now the law is there,” he said.
Gonzales said he was apprehensive that the defense could milk the issue and raise legal questions on Morales’ powers to ask for bank transactions of individuals without court order.
“We’ll, in effect, give the home court advantage to Chief Justice Renato Corona, and the Supreme Court can’t decide this because obviously there will be suspicions they will be biased for the defense. Congress can’t rush this, they will say we’ll favor ourselves. Let the issue be [tackled] after the impeachment. Whatever the decision, it deserves a second look,” he said.
Belmonte said presenting Vicente Aquino, AMLC executive director, as a prosecution witness during rebuttal “would not add to what we have.”
“If you get Aquino, he will verify it—and confirm it. If the defense thinks he will not confirm it, then let them call him in as a witness,” he said.
‘Game over’ if …
Gonzales agreed: “If they call him in, and if the AMLC confirms what the Ombudsman testified on, it will blow up in their faces like a nuclear bomb.”
Ateneo School of Government dean Antonio La Viña said Corona’s trial had crystallized into a simple issue, that is whether the dollar accounts are real or not.
“The trial will fall on this. The verdict will be decided on whether these accounts are real or not,” La Viña said.
“If these are falsified as the Chief Justice claims, then he may be acquitted. If in fact, these can be verified as real documents, then it is game over as far as I’m concerned,” he said.
University of the East Law dean Amado Valdez said Morales showed caution in exercising her powers by going to the AMLC.
“The proper position was taken by her when she did not direct it to the bank because there is the issue here of protecting the secrecy of the banking system,” Valdez said. “There was careful and cautious exercise of her power as warranted.” With a report from Leila B. Salaverria and Karen Boncocan