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MANILA, Philippines -- The prosecution in the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona has again re-ordered the presentation of evidence for the articles of impeachment against the embattled magistrate.
At the same time, the Senate urged the prosecution and defense to discuss and agree on how to whittle down the number of witnesses and documentary evidence to be introduced so as to speed up the trial.
“Come together and lay your cards on the table and try to stipulate what testimonial evidence and documentary evidence (you have) and, if that is possible, limit the area where evidence will be introduced,” Enrile said.
The prosecution manifestation to reorder the presentation of evidence was made at the resumption of the impeachment trial on Monday.
After it completes its current presentation of evidence for Article of Impeachment No. 2, which deals with Corona’s failure to disclose his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth, the prosecution wants to follow with Article 3 on the alleged flip-flopping decisions of the Supreme Court, then Article 7 on the granting of a temporary restraining order against the inclusion of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her husband, Jose Miguel, in a government travel watch list.
The first time the prosecution sought to change the order of presentation of the eight articles of impeachment, it asked that Article 1, dealing with Corona’s alleged partiality and subservience in cases involving the Arroyo administration, follow Article 2.
This time, the prosecution asked that Article 1 come after Article 7, to be followed by Article 8 (failure and refusal to account for the Judiciary Development Fund and Special Allowance for the Judiciary collections); Article 4 (issuance of status quo ante order against the House of Representatives regarding ex-Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez); Article 5 (regarding the 16 newly-created cities); and Article 6 (arrogating unto himself, and to a committee he created, the authority and jurisdiction to improperly investigate an alleged erring member of the Supreme Court for the purpose of exculpating him).
Iloilo Representative Niel Tupas Jr., who heads the House of Representatives’ prosecution team, said the new reordering “goes with the storyline” of the prosecution team “and in proper presentation of our case.”
Defense lawyer retired associate justice Serafin Cuevas initially objected to this manifestation.
“It is not that we are not prepared to tackle the evidence, but we are made to believe it is the right of the respondent to due process. This is precisely we are making on record our objection to another proposed order of procedure in presenting order of evidence,” Cuevas said.
But Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile granted the prosecution’s request.
Tupas said they will finish tackling Article 2 by the end of this week.
On the other hand, Enrile’s request for the prosecution and defense to agree on the presentation of evidence came after Senator Ramon Revilla Jr. worried that, at the rate things are going, the trial of Corona may drag on for up to a year.
The prosecution intended to present 100 witnesses, aside from voluminous documents. The defense also has its own witnesses.
“Baka maaaring tignan natin ang listahan ng testigo at ebidensiya to determine kung ang lahat nang ito ay kelangan o corroborative na lamang. Walong araw na tayo naglilitis at iilan pa lang sa testigo ang umuupo (We might want to look at the list of witnesses and evidence to determine if all these are needed or are merely corroborative. We have been trying this case for eight days and only a few witnesses have taken the stand). If we go on a rate of one witness per day on the average at kung magpapatuloy ang ganitong takbo, mukhang magtatagal pa tayo rito at abutin ng isang taon, (and if we continue at this rate, it looks we are in for the long haul and could take a year),” Revilla said.
The senator noted that valuable time and resources are going to the trial that could be spent on other “equally important activities.”
“Huwag na natin itong patagalin (Let’s not prolong this any longer),” Revilla pleaded.
Meanwhile, Senator-judge Antonio Trillanes IV said that the trial should cover the period even before Corona was appointed Chief Justice.
