Enrile: Senate vote on TRO issue no indication of conviction or acquittal

MANILA, Philippines—Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said Tuesday that the impeachment court’s 13-10 vote to respect the Supreme Court’s temporary restraining order against subpoenaing bank records on foreign currency accounts was not necessarily a prelude to how it would decide on the fate of Chief Justice Renato Corona.

“That is not an indication of anything yet,” he told reporters, noting that the matter of the TRO was “just an issue.”

“So when we go on the merits, there’s a distinction between judgment on the merits and decision on interlocutory matters,” he said.

Enrile, who turned 88 on Valentine’s Day, joined 12 other senators in voting to respect the TRO against summoning bank records on Corona’s dollar deposits. The TRO was requested by the Philippine Savings Bank (PSBank), whose officials were being pressured into revealing details of the accounts despite its prohibition by the Foreign Currency Deposits Law.

Two of the senators who voted for ignoring the TRO on Monday cried foul after Corona accused them and three other colleagues of being partial to the prosecution.

“There seems to be a concerted effort on the part of the defense to cast aspersions on the integrity and fairness of the impeachment court,” said Senator Francis Pangilinan, a staunch ally of President Benigno Aquino, who has been openly campaigning for Corona’s conviction.

Pangilinan noted that the defense panel had earlier accused the Palace of offering senators P100 million in exchange for voting to ignore the TRO.

“(Corona) should just focus on answering the charges rather than publicly attacking the impeachment proceedings,” he said. “Contrary to his allegations about the trial being a fraud, the vote of 13 to 10 yesterday is proof that the impeachment court is mindful of the concerns raised by the defense.”

Senator Teofisto Guingona III, also a member of Aquino’s Liberal Party, described Corona’s accusation as “unfortunate.”

“I stand for transparency and for making sure we all have access to (the) truth. He has misinterpreted that as bias,” he said in a text message.

Besides Pangilinan and Guingona, Corona also singled out Senators Franklin Drilon, Alan Peter Cayetano, and Sergio Osmeña III. The chief justice mentioned them in his 48-page supplement to his previous petition to stop the impeachment trial for allegedly violating his rights.

Drilon, an LP stalwart, has been repeatedly accused of rescuing prosecutors in crucial moments in the impeachment trial. The defense earlier called for his inhibition, but he refused to do so.