Corona lawyer welcomes Vizconde testimony

MANILA, Philippines—A lawyer for impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona welcomed the decision of Lauro Vizconde to testify at the resumption of his trial in the Senate on Tuesday.

Jose Roy III said Corona’s legal team will not oppose Vizconde’s  taking the witness stand in relation to the third of the eight articles of impeachment against the chief magistrate.

Vizconde, 74, is expected to disclose details of a meeting with Corona in which the latter supposedly revealed purported efforts of Justice Antonio Carpio to pressure other Supreme Court justices to acquit Hubert Webb, one of the primary accused in the massacre of Vizconde’s family.

House prosecutors said Corona must be held liable for “serious breach of the rule of confidentiality” for his actions.

“It’s good so that we will all know what Mr. Vizconde has to say. I don’t see any problem with that,” Roy told the Inquirer. “If Mr. Vizconde will tell the truth, then well and good.”

Asked if they expected Vizconde to offer damaging testimony against Corona, he said: “I hope not. I don’t know what he would say, but I’m confident that my client did not show malice when he had that meeting with the VACC (Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption).”

In a previous statement, Corona said the meeting between him and Vizconde happened during the courtesy call of VACC officials, among them Vizconde, shortly after he was appointed chief justice by then president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in May 2010.