Defense asks Supreme Court to stop Corona trial
MANILA, Philippines (UPDATE) - The defense has asked the Supreme Court to stop the impeachment proceedings at the Senate, saying the latter is being forced to rule on a faulty complaint.
Defense spokesperson Tranquil Salvador said they are forced to go to the Supreme Court because of the eventualities in the Senate that have violated the rights of Chief Justice Renato Corona.
“It’s not that we don’t respect the impeachment court. Alam kong mahirap ang kalagayan ng Senate ngayon dahil they are forced to look into a complaint that’s incomplete,” he said.
Based on the 39-page urgent petition for certiorari, the defense said they have been “forced into litigation with standards so far below the norm in regular proceedings.”
As such, “the effect has been the unhappy experience of trying the impeachment case with the general public as the judge and jury. Not only does this violate the right of CJ Corona to the cold, neutrality of an impartial judge, but it also denies him the fundamental right to a trial in accordance [with the Constitution and the laws],” the defense said.
They cited these arguments:
- the impeachment complaint is null and void because it was transmitted without due notice and hearing to CJ Corona;
- the impeachment court gravely abused its discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction in retaining 2.3 of Article II
- paragraphs 2.3 and 2.4 of the complaint are based on pure speculation and conclusions, which cannot be considered as ultimate facts sufficient to support a complaint;
- the presentation of evidence on charges of alleged corruption and unexplained wealth violates petitioner’s right to due process;
- the impeachment court committed grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction in issuing the subpoena for all the bank accounts, as requested by the prosecution.
The defense also asked that Associate Justices Antonio Carpio and Maria Lourdes Sereno inhibit from the case. Click here to read the entire petition.
Bank subpoena
In the interview, Salvador questioned the manner by which the complaint was crafted as well as the continued insistence of the prosecution to introduce information on an allegation already stricken down by the Senate.
In an earlier resolution, the senator-judges disallowed prosecutors from submitting evidence on paragraph 2.4 of the Second Article of Impeachment while allowing the entry of evidence for paragraphs 2.2 and 2.3.
Senator-judges decided to drop article 2.4 of the complaint, or the alleged ill-gotten wealth of Corona, which had been the rallying cry of the prosecution in their effort to seek a conviction for betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution.
Salvador also cited the subpoena issued on the alleged bank documents of Corona, despite a prohibition under Republic Act 6426 or the Foreign Currency Deposit Act and other bank secrecy laws.
There, a disclosure of foreign currency bank accounts can only be made upon written permission from the depositor.
“Whatever the decision of the SC will be, we will respect it,” he said.
Protecting Corona's rights
In a press conference, lawyer Rico Quicho said the filing of petition for certiorari is not an extraordinary event because any person can go to the Supreme Court to ask for interpretation of the law.
He said the defense panel is specifically protesting the issuance of a subpoena for Corona's bank records, which he said violates the Bank Secrecy Law.
"There are times during the impeachment trial that there were decisions or resolutions that is not anchored in law," he said.
"Sa pagtakbo ng paglilitis ay may kamaliang nangyayari at may mga kakulangan. Mayroon kaming karapatan at ngayon sumasangguni kami sa Supreme Court para maisaayos ang mali na nangyayari," he added.
"We are just defending the rights of our client."
Quicho said the decision to ask the SC to stop the Corona trial was not done overnight. He noted that the trial was now bordering on the persecution of the Chief Justice, and not justice.
He also denied that the issuance of a TRO by the Supreme Court will spark a constitutional crisis.
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Corona is toast. His lawyers
Corona is finished. His lawyers are now running to the mostly corrupt SC for salvation. And they are supposed to be brilliant. The pathetic defense lawyers are getting nervous and desperate. They are ignoring the fact that the SC is not allowed by our Constitution to interfere with the impeachment process which is the domain of the Senate.
kangaroo court
the bank documents acquired by tupas jr. is evidently illegal. bank records of the CJ can only be released (dollar account) with the permission of the depositor (in this case corona). such bank documents submitted by the prostituted allies of pnoy to the impeachment court are inadmissible since these documents are acquired illegally. perhaps these documents were acquired with the help of the boy from the pasig river.
on the issue of the impeachment court issuing subpoena to the concerned banks is a violation of bank secrecy law. the senate shouldn't give in to the ploy of the boy from the stinky pasig river. it was he and his minions doing things fair and foul to force a decision fovorable to them.
the bank documents instrumental for the issuance of subpoena are acquired illegally. second, to divulge information from an individuals account (dollar account) )without the permission from the depositor is a clear violation of the bank secrecy law. third, the issue of disclosing corona's bank accounts clearly diverts the issue to article 2.4 (accusation of ill-gotten wealth). the impeachment court made a ruling not to tackle paragraph 2.4 of article 2. if they (senate) insist on discussing the issue of corona's bank account, they will be violating their own ruling.
at this stage, i can see the invisible hands of malacanan making wonders. the senate as an impeachment body may violate the constitutional right of the accuse. it is high time that the defense seek the help of SC in this matter.
yes, the senate has a right to hear this impeachment case. but they cannot go beyond what the law prohibits. once the constitutional rights of any private individual or government official is being violated, the SC can exercise its power of judicial review. if in case, the SC finds out that the senate committed a grave abuse of discretion, the SC can stop the entire proceeding making this whole political exercise useless.
Very foolish arguments. Open
Very foolish arguments. Open your senses, buking na si Corona, he cannot hide his sins. Hirap na bansa natin, huwag mo namang gutumin kaming gutom na.
Don't worry about i_am_pluma,
Don't worry about i_am_pluma, he/she is obviously paid to copy and paste his/her message all over various websites. Madaling madetect ang supporters ni Corona/GMA dahil
1. They mastered the copy and paste technique,
2. They are nonsense
3. They will pretend to be knowledgable and conduct crash course from what they've learned from Google University
4. Always brought the HLI issue which is out of topic and
5. They shifted their personal attack to PNoy
Instead of trying to stop
Instead of trying to stop coronakot trial the defense lawyers should advise their corakot client to resign. Coronakot, Reyes, Ligot and Garcia have one thing in commom. They are all dogs of Arroyo family. They became rich with ill gotten money courtesy of Gloria Arroyo, the corrupt queen.
Napaka. . . .
gago at tanga talaga ang mga defense lawyers. alam naman nila na hindi lang exclusive jurisdiction ng senado ang impeachment case, ito ay constitutional jurisdiction at duty ng senado to hear and decide. there is even no mode of appeal or review, much less any authority of supreme court to interfere and issue a tro. naki sama na rin ang lawyers ng psbank sa futile move na 'to.
Corona's defense losing
Corona and his defense are losing the case. they cannot risk anymore any expose of Corona's ill-gotten wealth.
After move to strike out all solid evidences of ill-gotten wealth, now their move is to have the impeachment null. They forgot that they submitted themselves and acknowledge the authority of the impeachment court, why move to have it nulled? unless you knew that you are losing the battle and a conviction is almost sure...
I hope those remaining justices will be smart enough not to dip into this issue...since they are the issue.
Corona's defense losing
Corona and his defense are losing the case. they cannot risk anymore any expose of Corona's ill-gotten wealth.
After move to strike out all solid evidences of ill-gotten wealth, now their move is to have the impeachment null. They forgot that they submitted themselves and acknowledge the authority of the impeachment court, why move to have it nulled? unless you knew that you are losing the battle and a conviction is almost sure...
I hope those remaining justices will be smart enough not to dip into this issue...since they are the issue.
Are the defense counsel
Are the defense counsel joking or are out of their minds?
To seek stoppage of the impeachment trial will just aggravate the filipino people in thinking that CJ Corona is guilty.
What court will try these supreme court justices in the future if the Senate acting as an Impeachment Court will bow to the rules of the SC?
Remember that the Senators were placed by people's votes and not by mere appointment such as the Supreme Justices!
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