THE camp of Chief Justice Renato Corona on Monday downplayed reports that majority of the 23 senator-judges would vote to convict the chief magistrate out of respect for the President, saying that it expected to get a fair trial and judgment from the impeachment court.
Defense spokesman Ramon Esquerra expressed confidence that the members of the court will base their decision on evidence, not because they want to please somebody.
Esguerra was reacting to a story published in The Manila Times, saying that majority of the senator-judges in the impeachment court would accede to the call of President Benigno Aquino 3rd to vote for the expulsion of Corona.
The information was revealed to reporters by a senator-judge who requested not to be identified.
“We still have faith in the process. We still have faith in the institution trying this impeachment case. We still hope for a fair and credible trial, a fair and just judgment,” Esguerra said during an interview.
The House prosecution panel also on Monday downplayed the report, saying that it is too early to talk about a possible victory.
“It is hard to make a comment since, as you can see, majority of the senators are still undecided based on the questions [that they ask the prosecutors during the trial]. We have a long way to go before they get to decide,” Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara of Aurora, a spokesman for the House prosecution panel, told reporters.
Rep. Miro Quimbo of Marikina City (Metro Manila), the lead spokesman for the prosecution, said that they still have plenty of work to do.
“I am not naïve. I hear about the President being embarrassed in case of acquittal. But considering our daily grind, we don’t think of that at this point. What is important is we strengthen the judiciary by pushing our case, and we have a lot of evidence [against him], such as lying under oath,” Quimbo addedd, referring to discrepancies in Corona’s statements of assets, liabilities and net worth compared with the titles of the Chief Justice’s pieces of property and income tax returns.
“We are here to try the Chief Justice for betrayal of public trust and essentially for the last two weeks, for lying under oath. Can we still trust the Chief Justice who lies under oath not just once, not just twice, but repeatedly?” he asked.
Trial by publicity
Corona’s camp also on Monday accused the House panel of resorting to “trial by publicity” purportedly to “demonize” the chief magistrate.
According to lawyer Tranquil Salvador 2nd, a spokesman for the defense team, the prosecutors have been throwing in public allegations against Corona that were not yet presented before the impeachment court.
“Sana po igalang natin ang prosesong impeachment at ang institusyon ng Senado. Paulit-ulit na pong trial by publicity ang kanilang strategy, [I hope we should respect the impeachment process and the Senate as an institution. They have repeatedly used trial by publicity as their strategy],” Salvador said in a statement.
He added that over the weekend, the prosecutors told the media that Corona had received special privileges from Philippine Air Lines while PAL had a pending case before the Supreme Court.
“The prosecutors said that they will heed the directive of the impeachment court not to issue pieces of information which were not marked and introduced in the Senate. Why are they publicly releasing information about PAL?” Salvador asked.
Esguerra urged the public to be more critical of the pieces of information that were being presented through the media.
“People monitoring the impeachment should really stop, look and listen to what is being said after two weeks of the impeachment trial. Stop to determine if what is being alleged has been proved, look at documents entered and offered as evidence and listen to the reasons as to why conclusions cannot be made just as yet,” he said also in a statement.
Esguerra also clarified that “income based on incomplete tax records of the Coronas are not a good gauge to say that they did not have the legitimate means to acquire the [pieces of property].”
“There is the strong possibility that one’s means of buying a property can come from donation, inheritance and loans,” he pointed out.
This possibility was raised last week by Sen. Ralph Recto when Bureau of Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Henares took the witness stand.
In the case of the La Vista lot of the Chief Justice and Mrs. Corona, an asset listed in the wealth statements of prior years, Recto said that from the sale, the couple earned, net of the final capital gains tax, around P16 million.
Henares’ testimony did not touch on the sale of the Coronas’ lot in Ayala Heights in Quezon City that reportedly generated the couple another P8 million.
Defense spokesman Ramon Esquerra expressed confidence that the members of the court will base their decision on evidence, not because they want to please somebody.
Esguerra was reacting to a story published in The Manila Times, saying that majority of the senator-judges in the impeachment court would accede to the call of President Benigno Aquino 3rd to vote for the expulsion of Corona.
The information was revealed to reporters by a senator-judge who requested not to be identified.
“We still have faith in the process. We still have faith in the institution trying this impeachment case. We still hope for a fair and credible trial, a fair and just judgment,” Esguerra said during an interview.
The House prosecution panel also on Monday downplayed the report, saying that it is too early to talk about a possible victory.
“It is hard to make a comment since, as you can see, majority of the senators are still undecided based on the questions [that they ask the prosecutors during the trial]. We have a long way to go before they get to decide,” Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara of Aurora, a spokesman for the House prosecution panel, told reporters.
Rep. Miro Quimbo of Marikina City (Metro Manila), the lead spokesman for the prosecution, said that they still have plenty of work to do.
“I am not naïve. I hear about the President being embarrassed in case of acquittal. But considering our daily grind, we don’t think of that at this point. What is important is we strengthen the judiciary by pushing our case, and we have a lot of evidence [against him], such as lying under oath,” Quimbo addedd, referring to discrepancies in Corona’s statements of assets, liabilities and net worth compared with the titles of the Chief Justice’s pieces of property and income tax returns.
“We are here to try the Chief Justice for betrayal of public trust and essentially for the last two weeks, for lying under oath. Can we still trust the Chief Justice who lies under oath not just once, not just twice, but repeatedly?” he asked.
Trial by publicity
Corona’s camp also on Monday accused the House panel of resorting to “trial by publicity” purportedly to “demonize” the chief magistrate.
According to lawyer Tranquil Salvador 2nd, a spokesman for the defense team, the prosecutors have been throwing in public allegations against Corona that were not yet presented before the impeachment court.
“Sana po igalang natin ang prosesong impeachment at ang institusyon ng Senado. Paulit-ulit na pong trial by publicity ang kanilang strategy, [I hope we should respect the impeachment process and the Senate as an institution. They have repeatedly used trial by publicity as their strategy],” Salvador said in a statement.
He added that over the weekend, the prosecutors told the media that Corona had received special privileges from Philippine Air Lines while PAL had a pending case before the Supreme Court.
“The prosecutors said that they will heed the directive of the impeachment court not to issue pieces of information which were not marked and introduced in the Senate. Why are they publicly releasing information about PAL?” Salvador asked.
Esguerra urged the public to be more critical of the pieces of information that were being presented through the media.
“People monitoring the impeachment should really stop, look and listen to what is being said after two weeks of the impeachment trial. Stop to determine if what is being alleged has been proved, look at documents entered and offered as evidence and listen to the reasons as to why conclusions cannot be made just as yet,” he said also in a statement.
Esguerra also clarified that “income based on incomplete tax records of the Coronas are not a good gauge to say that they did not have the legitimate means to acquire the [pieces of property].”
“There is the strong possibility that one’s means of buying a property can come from donation, inheritance and loans,” he pointed out.
This possibility was raised last week by Sen. Ralph Recto when Bureau of Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Henares took the witness stand.
In the case of the La Vista lot of the Chief Justice and Mrs. Corona, an asset listed in the wealth statements of prior years, Recto said that from the sale, the couple earned, net of the final capital gains tax, around P16 million.
Henares’ testimony did not touch on the sale of the Coronas’ lot in Ayala Heights in Quezon City that reportedly generated the couple another P8 million.
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