House says Corona has no choice but take stand

House Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II

Impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona’s refusal to take the witness stand will be his undoing, according to leaders of the House of Representatives seeking to oust him for allegedly being unfit to stay in office.

“I think if he does not testify, it will guarantee his conviction,” said House Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II after Corona’s lead defense counsel, Serafin Cuevas, last week raised the possibility that his client would not be put on the witness stand.

Gonzales said that if Corona tapped a personal lawyer or accountant to testify on why he allegedly undervalued his assets in his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) and failed to disclose his asset purchases and cash deposits, it would be immediately dismissed as hearsay testimony.

“I think he has to testify himself to refute most of the evidence against him, especially those showing discrepancies in his SALN and source of income,” Gonzales said.

Quezon Representative Lorenzo “Erin” Tañada III said that only Corona had “personal knowledge” of the evidence presented by the prosecution to pin him down on three articles of impeachment.

“Unless the defense can prove that someone else has personal knowledge, he has to testify on Article 2 because he personally signed and swore under oath  to the truthfulness of the SALN, on Article 3 because as Chief Justice he is in charge of administration matters of the Supreme Court, and on Article 7 because he was the one taking down notes during the meeting of the en banc on the TRO (temporary restraining order) on GMA (Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo),” said Tañada, a spokesperson of the prosecution panel.

Aurora Representative Juan Edgardo Angara said that only Corona himself would provide the best evidence to convince   senator-judges still undecided on whether to convict or acquit him.

Angara said: “His defense says that the money in his account belongs to Mrs. Corona’s family or family corporation. Perhaps he can explain why these funds are in his account. This is just one example of how the CJ can shed light on the impeachment case.”