Those who missed or want to review the Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 hearings, visit these VERA Files links: http://verafiles.org/2012/02/02/feb-1-senate-impeachment-court-record/ http://verafiles.org/2012/02/02/jan-31-senate-impeachment-court-record/
The prosecution’s clumsy preparation of the Articles of Impeachment against Chief Justice Renato Corona has caught up with them.
Last Wednesday, the impeachment court trying Chief Justice Renato Corona decided to reject the prosecution’s request to present evidence in relation to the alleged ill-gotten wealth of Chief Justice Renato Corona.
Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, acting as the impeachment court’s president officer, said:”This impeachment court has arrived at a decision in that caucus that this court will allow the introduction of evidence and impeachment on article 2 paragraph 2.2 and 2.3 but not the introduction of evidence of paragraph 2.4. And so parties must be guided accordingly,” Enrile said.
May basehan ang pag-alala ni Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan sa sinabi ng prosecution na sobra isang daan daw ang bilang ng witnesses na kanilang i-presenta sa impeachment trial ni Chief Justice Renato Corona.
Sabi ni Pangilinan, na miyembro ng Liberal Party at ka-alyado ng administrasyong Aquino, “Kung seryoso sila (ang prosecution) na ipresenta ang lahat na witness, matatagalan itong trial.”
Sabi ni Pangilinan, sa unang dalawang linggo ng impeachment trial, anim na witnesses na ang naisalang sa witness stand. “Kung ganito ang takbo ng trial, aabutin ng sampung buwan ang isang daan na witnesses.”
Prosecution witnesses lang yan. May sariling witnesses rin ang defense.
By Lala Ordenes-Cascolan, VERA Files Chief Justice Renato Corona, impeached for failure to disclose to the public his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth…
By YVONNE T. CHUA, VERA Files Chief Justice Renato C. Corona has reported a net worth of P22.9 million and five pieces of property, including…
It was the second day and the prosecution was expected to start the presentation of evidence. It was
Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr (Cavite, 2nd dist) who was the lead prosecutor and he started with saying that it
was in the public interest that they start with Article 2 of the Impeachment complaint which was“culpable violation of the Constitution and/or betrayed the public trust when he failed disclose to the public his statement of assets, liabilities, and networth statement of assets,
liabilities, and net worth as required unders Sec. 17, Art. XI of the 1987 Constitution.”
The defense, as expected, opposed the re-arranging of the order of presentation of evidence. Barzaga said the prosecution was not ready with the evidence for Article 1 which was “betrayal of the public trust through his track record marked by partiality and subservience in cases involving the Arroyo administration from the time of his appointment as supreme court justice which continued to his dubious appointment as a midnight chief justice and up to the present. “
Statement of Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda on the World Bank report on the Judiciary Contrary to the excitable—but utterly wrong—conclusions of an opposition lawmaker, the…
Philippine media has a term for it: kuryente
It looks like a number of Philippine media organizations were victims of a hoax World BanK Report regarding Supreme Court’s Judicial Reform Support Project criticizing Chief Justice Renato Corona and Court Aministrator Midas Marquez.
Manila Bulletin came out with a report on WB disowning the so-called JRSP report. Here it is:
World Bank disowns JRSP report
By CHINO S. LEYCO
January 16, 2012, 5:38pm
MANILA, Philippines — The World Bank denied on Monday it released a report on the Supreme Court’s Judicial Reform Support Project (JRSP) that noted its dissatisfaction with the way the project was being implemented.
Erika Leann Lacson-Esguerra, World Bank program assistant for external relations, said Monday the bank did not release to the media a supposed memo regarding the “unsatisfactory” progress of the high court’s loan.
“This email message did not come from the World Bank. Any official statement from the World Bank will be posted online (www.worldbank.org.ph),” Lacson-Esguerra said.
The trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona has started.
It is expected that like the Estrada impeachment trial, the Corona impeachment would also be a blockbuster telenovela that will be followed by the Filipino nation. Afternoons will now be prime TV hours, Mondays through Thursdays.
It is appropriate to ponder how we got into this situation that viewed from the Aquino administration’s perspective would result in reforms in the judiciary and better government for the people. From the political opposition’s perspective, however, it’s trampling on the Constitutional guarantee of separation of powers and bastardizing democracy.
I think it’s good to know how we got into this situation in the first place. We must ask why, after one-and-a-half-years in office, Aquino finally decided to move for the ouster of Corona.
VERA Files has created a page on the Corona Trial. I encourage you to visit it. We will try to help readers understand the proceedings…