Midas will testify only if allowed by SC

MANILA, Philippines - Supreme Court (SC) spokesman Midas Marquez said yesterday he would take the witness stand in the impeachment trial of his boss Chief Justice Renato Corona only if allowed by the high court’s justices.

“If I receive a subpoena, I will have to refer the subpoena to the court,” Marquez said in an interview.

Marquez cited the SC resolution last Feb. 14 prohibiting the disclosure of privileged information, including details of closed-door sessions of the high court, in the impeachment trial.

“If we’re going to follow the Feb. 14 resolution, the judicial privilege belongs to the court and therefore it is only the court that can waive the privilege. It does not belong to any justice or any official alone. Only the court can waive such privilege,” he explained.

Marquez was dragged into the impeachment case after Justice Secretary Leila de Lima accused him of misleading the public about the date of effectivity of the temporary restraining order (TRO) on the DOJ travel ban on former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in November last year.

De Lima, who testified for the House prosecution panel, alleged that the SC official misled the public by announcing in a press conference that the TRO was immediately executory even if the three conditions set by the high court for its implementation had not been met yet by the camp of Arroyo.

“I stand my ground. What I said before was correct. I never misled the public,” Marquez said in response.

In Article 7 of the impeachment complaint, it was alleged that the serving of the TRO was made in a rush so that Mrs. Arroyo and former first gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo could leave the country despite a pending electoral sabotage case against her.

Article 7 accuses Corona of “partiality in granting a temporary restraining order in favor of Arroyo and her husband Jose Miguel Arroyo in order to give them an opportunity to escape prosecution and to frustrate the ends of justice, and in distorting the Supreme Court decision on the effectivity of the TRO in view of a clear failure to comply with the conditions of the Supreme Court’s own TRO.”

Manifesto

Meanwhile, the Judiciary Employees Association (Judea) came up with a manifesto yesterday professing its support for the embattled Chief Justice.

The group, which claims to represent the 25,000 employees of the judiciary all over the country, said the accusations against Corona were baseless and that President Aquino was using the impeachment trial to cover up his incompetence in governance. The manifesto was read during the weekly flag-raising ceremony at the SC grounds on Padre Faura Street in Ermita.

“Impeachment is being used by PNoy to cloak worsening poverty among the people. There is no serious plan or action to stop the continuous increase in prices of oil and basic commodities, just as there’s no plan for wage hike, land reform, industrialization for more employment opportunity and housing for the masses,” according to a statement read by Judea president Mau Aguilar before a crowd of court employees in red shirts.

The Chief Justice was present during the event along with Associate Justices Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, Roberto Abad, Martin Villarama Jr., Jose Perez and Jose Mendoza.

“CJ Corona is not the only target of this supposed reform and campaign for Matuwid na Daan,” the manifesto read. The group said the move to impeach Corona was triggered by the SC’s landmark decision to order the distribution of Hacienda Luisita to farmer-tenants. President Aquino’s family owns Hacienda Luisita.

The group called the impeachment trial an “onslaught of vengeance” by the Aquino administration. “It is intended to influence the court to reverse its decision or to stop the implementation of the order,” the manifesto read.

Judea also vowed to match the planned “parliaments of the streets” by anti-Corona forces with its own show of force.

“We will never be fooled by the Aquino administration in this impeachment campaign disguised as matuwid na daan which in truth serves his narrow personal interest while the public is entertained and being blinded,” the group said.