Lawmakers’ palace visit after Corona conviction only a short dinner

Bayan Muna Party-list Rep. Neri Javier Colmenares. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Bayan Muna Representative Neri Colmenares, a member of the House prosecution team, on Wednesday admitted he was one of the lawmakers who went to Malacañang a few hours after a guilty verdict was handed down by the Senate impeachment court on now-former Chief Justice Renato Corona.

The visit was initially thought of as a meeting to conduct a post-mortem assessment on Corona’s conviction.

“Dinner pala (at hindi meeting). Wala namang napag-usapan. (It was only dinner and not a meeting). There were many congressmen and private prosecutors.”

But surprisingly not in attendance was lead prosecutor Iloilo Representative Niel Tupas Jr., according to Colmenares.

The dinner was short and “not euphoric that everybody was going high fives but we felt more of a relief.”

Undersecretary Abigail Valte, the deputy presidential spokesperson, earlier said that members of the prosecution panel were thanked by President Benigno Aquino III hours after Corona’s conviction.