Summons for CJ bank records hangs in the balance

Posted at 02/07/2012 7:03 PM | Updated as of 02/07/2012 11:25 PM

MANILA, Philippines (3rd UPDATE) - Bank officials are set to appear in the Corona impeachment trial on Wednesday, but the Senate has to resolve anew if the summons issued to them will stay amid questions from a senator-judge.

Specifically, the Senate, sitting as an impeachment court, will hold a caucus on the motion for reconsideration filed by senator-judge Miriam Defensor Santiago on the subpoenas issued on the bank documents of Chief Justice Renato Corona.

“The chairman would not make a ruling to deny nor sustain the motion and give the senator the chance to be heard. The ruling will be made tomorrow before a witness will be called to stand,” he said.

Santiago said that while the filing of the appeal would not prejudice her final vote, she said she only wants the defense to a have a second chance to argue its case.

She cited three reasons:

- It appears that the subpoena would violate this Court’s own ruling that evidence shall NOT be allowed on ill-gotten wealth. (Complaint, Art. 2, para. 2.4.) Since 2.4 is the only paragraph that specifically mentions “bank deposits,” any requests for subpoena concerning any bank deposits should be rejected.

- It appears that the Court’s resolution allowing subpoena even for foreign currency deposits appears to be a direct violation of R.A. No. 6426.  The Supreme Court ruled in Intengan v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 128996 (2002), that this law is violated if a foreign currency deposit is examined, except only when the depositor gives written permission.  This is the only exception, and it is not present in this case.

- The prosecution cited the 1997 case of Salvacion, 2000 case of China Banking Corp., and 2006 case of Ejercito.  It appears that all three cases are off-tangent.

Caucus

Minutes into the 13th day of trial, senator-judge Vicente Sotto III read a letter from the absent Santiago.

In her letter, she suggested that the defense and prosecution debate on the issue.

She said they will then be asked to file a memorandum, which will be discussed in caucus. “I shall, despite my ill health, attend the caucus,” she said.

She said her motion is “superfluous,” to avoid technical objections.

Yesterday, lead defense counsel Serafin Cuevas verbally objected to the court’s resolution. Senator-judge Francis Escudero said only him and his colleagues can file a motion for reconsideration.

“There is no such requirement in the Impeachment Rules. Perhaps what he referred to was the Senate Rules, which can apply as a supplemental reference, but only if it is relevant to the impeachment,” Santiago noted.

Nonetheless, she said that she was filing the motion under the principle of ex abundanti cautela, which means “from an abundance of care.”

“In other words, my motion is merely precautionary, because in my view the motion can be filed even only by defense counsel, and does not need to be filed by a senator-judge,” she said.

Gray area

Senator-judges later debated on the right of other stakeholders, specifically the defense and the prosecution, to file a motion for reconsideration on any ruling of the court.

Senator-judge Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III said “it is quite unnatural not to allow a motion for reconsideration in a trial. There will be incidents where the Senate will rule quickly…”

Senator-judge Joker Arroyo said, however, the impeachment rules are “ambiguous” on the matter.

He said the rules, nonetheless, do not apply since “[the main issue] is a question of law and requires serious study.”

He said senator-judges are not just dealing with technicalities. “It’s not evidence we’re taking up here, but an interpretation of law.”

Some analysts said the issuance of a subpoena on bank records may violate laws on the secrecy of bank deposits. The Foreign Currency Deposit Act specifically states that a disclosure of foreign currency bank accounts can only be made upon written permission from the depositor.


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36 comments

apparatchiks

Let me give you guys a recall of the violations that pnoy and his prostitutes have committed against our system of democracy. pnoy through his justice secretary defied the TRO issued by the supreme court even without legal or constitutional basis. second, pnoy used the COMELEC to conspire with DOJ to make a joint investigation on electoral sabotage against the former president. counsel of the defendant questioned this in the supreme court but despite of the pending decision of the honorable court in regard to the aforesaid issue, the COMELEC railroaded the investigation. but the worse thing that happened was, sixto brillantes (former counsel of FPJ) participated in the voting procedure involving the filing of electoral sabotage case even if the COMELEC rule itself prohibits such act.

but pnoy was never contented in violating and circumventing rules, procedure, and laws to get back at his perceived political foes. next target was merci. with the help of mammoth administration propaganda against the sitting ombudsman, pnoy and his allies worked to defame her name in front of the public using yellow media. the ombudsman is guilty in the bar of public opinion even without the trial. as a result, she resigned before the senate convene as an impeachment court. but the catch here is that, the law itself prohibits the resignation of a public official pending an investigation against him or her. pnoy violated this law on anti graft and corrupt practices by signing merci's resignation. enough reason to impeach him.

the shame campaign did not relent. after the SC in a "unanimous" decision ruled to favor the distribution of hacienda luisita and rejecting STO (a predatory tactic of aquino-cojuangco clan to get hold of luisita), pnoy came out in the public enraged. the chief executive berated the chief justice on several occasions including the forum held by no less than SC. this ill-manned president used the opportunity to lambast corona in the forum organized by the institution the latter represent.

after the hacienda ruling, the prostituted allies of pnoy and he, met in a restaurant in qc to plot the ouster of CJ. the house of representative railroaded the filing of the impeachment. the chief justice was impeached in the prostituted house even if the articles of impeachment did not met the constitutional requirement of verification. those who refuse to sign the articles of impeachment were not spared. mandanas was removed from the powerful committee that he used to handle even if he is member of the ruling majority. tiangco (majority) had his PDAF witheld when he refuse to sign merci's impeachment. for the second time he and his colleagues were compelled to sign a constitutionally flawed impeachment complaint this time involving the CJ of SC.

the house rules on impeachment were revised during merci's time removing the two essential constitutional safeguards or requirements such as "personal knowledge". this move is all intended to easily file an impeachment complaint that this administration could use against their perceived political enemies. suddenly, the filing of an impeachment can be done instantaneously use to coerce and plant fear among those who refuse the will of the balding man in the pasig river.

back to the senate, during the trial it was proven that the badly written impeachment complaint needed to be toss back to the prostituted house of representatives for the wordings were badly written. the law itself dictates that accusations must be based on facts, not on opinion or inferences and must be exact. the articles of impeachment does not even allege corona of amassing ill-gotten wealth but only alleges corona for non-disclosure of SALN. during the inquiry of sen-judge drilon, it was proven that the clerk of court had his (corona's) SALN. it was also that day that the impeachment court proved that corona regularly files his SALN forcing the prosecution to abandon such accusation. a clear victory for the defense.

the court in exercise of liberality on many occasions have ruled in favor of the prosecution. the reason being is because the senate sitting as an impeachment court wanted to hasten the proceeding.

prosecution using dirty tactics presented before the media list of properties allegedly owned by corona. however, lately during the hearing, it was proven that the list was in fact inaccurate and bloated to make it appear as if corona amassed so many properties. the prosecution vehemently denied that the prosecution got anything to do with the distribution of such evidence in the media. however, in one occasion, sen-judge estrada managed to get a clear admission from tupas jr. that it was he who distributed the unsworn, unverified and unvalidated documents in the media.

the prosecution during the trial wanted to open certain bank accounts of corona in BPI and in PS bank (including peso and dollar account). the senate ruled on having the the president of PS bank to testify in the impeachment court inspite of the fact that there is a pending appeal in SC questioning the legality of disclosing corona's dollar accounts. the bank secrecy law is clear, no one can divulge information involving a dollar account as it is treated with confidentiality. the only time that this can be opened is when the depositor allows it. what the majority of our sen-judge want is to open this even if it is a clear violation of law. tackling the issue of corona's bank account is geared towards discussing the issue on paragraph 2.4 of article 2. the senate as an impeachment court already ruled not to tackle this portion of the impeachment complaint. if they will proceed, they are in great danger of violating their own ruling and possibly violating the constitutional right of the defendant.

instrumental to the issuance of the subpoena to the banks was the illegally acquired bank documents handed by the "little lady" to the prosecution. however, one of the prosecutors in a slip of the tongue referred to the lady as "he." it could be a manifestation that the prosecution is trying to cover the real identity of the one who handed those illegally acquired documents. even the possession of this illegally acquired documents warrants an investigation. i wonder why the senate did not investigate the prosecution team regarding this issue? worse, they (senate) even use this illegally acquired documents as basis to issue a subpoena.

this impeachment court is the only court that does not accept MRs. the essence of the right to file an MR supports the issue on the right of the concerned party to be heard. if this impeachment court under their rules does not accept MRs, then it deserves to be conducting their hearings in planet mars.


abs-cbnnews.com/nation/02/08/12/psbank-seeks-tro-vs-subpoena-cor

abs-cbnnews.com/nation/02/08/12/psbank-seeks-tro-vs-subpoena-corona-records

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/02/07/12/banks-risk-contempt-if-they-refuse-subpoenas-tañada


san kaya? sina osshh,

san kaya? sina osshh, sooshh..ohmmm..ba't biglang nawala? namimiss kona sila..


Merriam Santiago!! TIKALON!

Merriam Santiago!! TIKALON!


abs-cbnnews.com/nation/02/08/12/psbank-seeks-tro-vs-subpoena-cor

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/02/08/12/psbank-seeks-tro-vs-subpoena-...

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/02/07/12/banks-risk-contempt-if-they-refuse-subpoenas-tañada


Miriam, Makinig ka at Hinde pa huli ang lahat!!

Miriam, Makinig ka at Hinde pa huli ang lahat!!

Magaling ka nga sa juresprudence, pero mahina ka naman makitao. Tandaan mo na ang tao ay may feelings rin. Hinde sila mga bato o yerro sa mga sigaw-sigaw mo. Sila ay may damdamin rin na gaya mo. Pag sinaktan mo ang damdamin nila ay magtatanim ng masamang loob sa iyo. Gusto mo ba yon? Respetuhin mo sila at respetuhin ka rin nila. Gaya ng Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. Ika nga.
Ang buhay ay parang weather-weather lang ang sabi ni kuya Kim ng ABS-CBN news. Mabuti at ngayon malakas ka sa pangangatawan at matalino pa. Huwag kang sikat kisyo mag swear ka na bilang International Criminal Court judge. One day magkaroon ka ng sakit na cancer o ma accidente o ma stroke. Possible yan at parati kang absent sa Senado dahil may hypertension ka sa pagka madaldal mo. Buti lang kong mild stroke. Ay kong massive? baka ka pa mangiwi, ma paralyze dahil sa sobra mong daldal o galit. Ang tanong: Anong legacy ang iiwanan mo​? Pagka madal-dal na politician, daldalirang empeachment judge at iba pa?
My advice to you Miriam, ay huminahon ka, keep your cool. Huwag kang arrogante, escandalosa, gregarious, domineering. Mag relax ka at dahan dahan lang ang pananalita. Huwag parating galit, parating stressed out, huwag kang highly strung, and learn to listen. Tingnan mo ang kapwa mo senator mahinahon silang lahat except you. Hinde sila hina highblood. Magbago ka na, basahin mong mabuti isa-isa ang mga negative na comments sa iyo sa blog na ito. Gawin mong salamin ito, kung ano ang paningin at masamang feelings namin sa iyo ay ganon ka nga. Huwag kang mag provoke. Hala ka, Miriam, ikaw rin at kawawa ka naman baka ma stroke at sumunod kay Iggy Arroyo. Sayang ang talino mo sa juresprudence. Kaya magbago kana at hinde pa huli ang lahat...


Miriam as International Judge

In 2007-2008, Miriam applied as a judge in International Court, but was rejected. She has all the qualifications, expeience, etc. but still she did not get the job.

It was because the voting committee thought that the applicant (Miriam) came from a corrupt country (last administration) cannot represent an International Court.(It looks unethical to the eyes of world).

Then, in 2011 (new administration), Miriam was unanimously voted to the position. This is because of her current administration is reflecting a good governance against graft and corruption.
She must thank the new administration for her new position now.


Miriam is a loud mouth bully

Miriam is a loud mouth bully who wants to get her way to hide the truth. This woman is a mental case and an egomaniac. The majority of the senator-judges already voted for the subpoenas. Based on what we already know over and over again about Corona's lying and cheating on his properties and SALN, these subpoenas are warranted. There is really no excuse.


MR For Corona's Account Subpoena

It was Miriam Defensor Santiago who said last January that they don't want the same situation that happened with Estrada's impeachment (when they refused to open the 2nd envelope from a bank) to happen again.

You're eating your own words, Miriam...


remember them in election

Miriam may not seek reelection but the others pls. remember them how they vote, I think some senators will use legal technicalities to block showing bank accounts of Corona. Sa coomon tao we want the truth, so common tao will use the elction to balance who blocks the truth

epong