Senate ready for trial

MANILA, Philippines - With certain quarters saying the Senate itself will be on trial, senators assured the public yesterday that the chamber is prepared for the unprecedented task of convening as an impeachment court to try Chief Justice Renato Corona.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III said everything is ready for the trial which opens today. 

It is the first time that the nation’s chief magistrate will be tried by an impeachment court. Corona is accused of culpable violation of the Constitution, betrayal of public trust, and graft and corruption.

The Senate sergeant-at-arms will implement stringent security measures, assisted by members of the Philippine National Police (PNP), within the vicinity of the GSIS offices where the Senate is located in Pasay City.

About 1,000 local and foreign media personnel have been given ID accreditation cards to cover the trial, but only 40 media personnel can enter the session hall. The rest can watch the proceedings, which will be telecast live, in any of the three rooms provided for journalists.

Members of the prosecution panel were assigned the Padilla Room, which was divided into three sections to accommodate their House staff and private lawyers. 

The defense team, on the other hand, was assigned to the Tañada room, located just across the Padilla Room.

The impeachment proceedings will officially start at 2 p.m. after the senators conduct their legislative session at 9 a.m. 

They will try to finish the congressional session early to pave way for the all-senators’ caucus by 11:30 a.m. to discuss issues related to the impeachment proceedings, Sotto said.

Enrile is the presiding officer of the trial.

Senators Gregorio Honasan and Franklin Drilon will assist Sotto, majority leader of the impeachment court.

“The impeachment court will always act as one. The SP (Senate President) rules. If the SP ruling is not in conformity of the Senate, we can move to halt… the majority will always prevail,” Sotto said.

Enrile earlier explained the motions pending before the body will be discussed before the prosecution and defense are asked to give their opening statements.

“All motions we will have to discuss tomorrow (today) at the start, before we give the floor to the prosecution and the defense,” Sotto said.

The Corona camp had so far filed four manifestations before the impeachment court including a motion for preliminary hearing.

Also pending is an urgent motion filed by a private lawyer citing House prosecutors in contempt of court.

The House prosecutors have filed a motion to disregard Corona’s move to conduct preliminary hearing; and another motion seeking to subpoena Corona’s wife, Cristina and their three children as well as a brother-in-law over their alleged 40 real properties.

Enrile said he would discuss with his colleagues the move of Corona’s camp to dismiss his complaint or to render an acquittal since the articles of impeachment did not bear the constitutional requirement of verification. The House panel has disputed Corona’s motion.

“So, I’ll have to take that up with the members of the Senate because the wording of the Constitution is that in case the verified complaint or resolution of impeachment is filed by one-third of all members of the House, then the verified complaint shall become the Articles of Impeachment and trial in the Senate shall forthwith proceed,” Enrile said.

Poker faced

To maintain the integrity of the Senate, Sotto reminded his colleagues that they are under oath of impartiality as senator-judges.

“Do your best to become politically neutral first. I know every senator has political inclination, that’s fine. But as impeachment-judge, you should not show it since you took oath and vowed to be impartial,” Sotto said. 

“They say that this is a political exercise. But if you decide you should not be politically inclined,” he added.

The House prosecutors need the votes of 16 senators to ensure a conviction of Corona, even in just one of the eight articles of impeachment.  

For every article, Corona needs an acquittal coming from at least eight senators. Acquittal is rendered if the chief magistrate gets acquitted in all eight articles. 

A guilty verdict in any of the articles would sustain Corona’s impeachment.

Minority Leader Alan Cayetano also stressed the importance of impartiality of the Senate as an impeachment court.

“If it (the Senate as an impeachment court) can have an impartial hearing then it will show that the Constitution works and senators can go beyond politics,” Cayetano said.

“I think the Senate will be as much on trial as the judiciary in proving its impartiality as an institution,” he said.

Honasan said the trial “is a painful experience for our country. We need this to get over with, the sooner, the better.”

‘Impeachment watch’

Malacañang yesterday urged the public to monitor today’s historic impeachment trial and learn from the proceedings about the issues surrounding the chief magistrate.

“We exhort everybody to monitor, to watch, to listen, to learn, and to make your own judgment. Let’s listen to both sides on what evidence will be presented,” deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said.  

Even if it will be the senator-judges who will make the final judgment in the end, Valte said it would always be better for everyone to be well informed and apprised of developments.

As for President Aquino watching the trial, Valte said it would be business as usual for the Chief Executive since he would be having a scheduled public engagement today in his hometown in Tarlac.

Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) president Roan Libarios said they would closely monitor the impeachment trial.

Libarios said the IBP created the “Impeachment Watch” to monitor the trial and inform the public of an independent assessment of proceedings.

The IBP said their monitoring team would be in the Senate to be able to give the public regular bulletins with the assessments at the end of each hearing day.

Libarios reminded senators of their oath to be impartial. He appealed to the senators to shun political affiliations and even public opinion when they vote on the guilt or acquittal of the embattled chief magistrate.

Lawyer Trixie Angeles, a member of “Impeachment Watch” said they are concerned about how some senators abide by the popular perception of the impeachment trial as generally a political process.

Angeles said the IBP considers the impeachment as a political and constitutional process – political in the sense that it is undertaken by political branches of government but also constitutional because it

must adhere to rules of procedure to guarantee due process and equal protection.

Another member of the IBP team, Patricia Ann Prodigalidad said they expect the senator-judges to be impartial and know for a fact that the trial is a “criminal and penal proceeding.”

Former SC court administrator Zenaida Elepano cited the lack of background in litigation and judicial practice by most senators, which she said was the reason why the IBP had to create the monitoring team.

‘Moral fitness’

As for the House prosecutors, they expect the senator-judges to determine if Corona is morally fit to continue serving as Chief Justice after they have presented the evidence against him during the trial.

Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara, one of the spokespersons for the prosecution, said he is confident that they would be able to convince senator-judges that Corona does not have the moral fitness “to continue leading the most sacred branch of our government.”

Principal prosecution panel spokesman Marikina Rep. Miro Quimbo said prosecutors continue to meet as of yesterday afternoon to map out strategy.– With Delon Porcalla, Edu Punay, Jess Diaz