SC spokesman says no special en banc session next Tuesday

Jose Midas Marquez, the court’s administrator and spokesperson, told reporters that the 15-member tribunal was expected to resolve appeals, five months after it unanimously ordered the dismantling of the hacienda.. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Supreme Court spokesman and court administrator Jose Midas Marquez denied circulating text messages that the high court will have a special en banc session on Tuesday, the day when the impeachment court is expected to release its verdict on Chief Justice Renato Corona.

“That is not true, [there will be] no session on Tuesday,” Marquez said at a text message.

He said the high court is on recess and session will resume only next month.

Text messages circulated this morning saying the high court would hold a special session to tackle the petition filed by Chief Justice Renato Corona early this year asking the high court to stop the impeachment proceedings and nullify the articles of impeachment.

The petition noted that the impeachment court should not have proceeded to trial on the basis of the complaint, which is “riddled with constitutional defects too numerous to withstand even cursory legal scrutiny.”

A special en banc session is being called by the Chief Justice only when necessary. Corona inhibited from the case.