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Impeach court starts retracing Corona’s ascent to Supreme Court
By Michael Lim UbacPhilippine Daily Inquirer
12:51 am | Friday, January 20th, 2012
Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato C. Corona. INQUIRER/NIÑO JESUS ORBETA
With the turnover of Chief Justice Renato Corona’s statements of
assets, liabilities and net worth (SALNs), the impeachment court has
begun to retrace the steps he took before he assumed the top post of the
Supreme Court in 2010.
Although tedious, the process allows the nation to see how this
jurist—who has described himself as being of a family “of no ordinary
means”—walked the corridors of power under two administrations in a
political and legal career spanning two decades.
After two days of delay, the presentation of evidence and witnesses on Article 2 of the impeachment complaint, which began on Wednesday and continued yesterday, has enlivened the heretofore insipid proceedings. It also set into motion the prosecution’s strategy to lay the basis for Corona’s conviction of betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the Constitution, and graft and corruption.
Article 2 alleges that Corona violated the Constitution and betrayed
public trust “when he failed to disclose to the public” his SALNs.
On Wednesday, the impeachment court compelled Supreme Court Clerk of
Court Enriqueta Esguerra-Vidal to turn over an envelope containing
Corona’s SALNs covering the period 2002-2010 (first as associate justice
and later Chief Justice of the high court).
This allowed the prosecution to obtain what could turn out to be the
smoking gun necessary to prove its claim that Corona had amassed assets
beyond his means.
The Chief Justice has admitted ownership of only five of the 45
properties linked by the prosecution to him and his family as alleged
proof of his “ill-gotten wealth.”
A cursory reading of the SALNs will yield the impression that
Corona’s rise to power was, to a great extent, intertwined with the
political career of his appointing authority, then outgoing President
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Shared fate?
Apart from the assets, liabilities and net worth, a SALN contains the
“position/income,” “office,” and “office address” of the public
official submitting the document.
Before the impeachment court adjourned late on Wednesday, the
prosecution elicited additional evidence from Marianito Dimaandal, the
head of the Malacañang Records Office, in the form of SALNs submitted by
Corona covering the period 1992-2002.
In that 10-year span, Corona served in various capacities in the executive branch.
He joined the government in 1992, during the term of President Fidel
Ramos. He first served as assistant executive secretary for legal
affairs and concurrent head of the Malacañang Legal Office, a
sub-Cabinet post, before being promoted to the post of deputy executive
secretary and, later, chief presidential legal counsel.
But it was the decision of then Vice President Arroyo to pick him as
her chief of staff and spokesperson in 1998 that laid the groundwork for
his entry to the Supreme Court four years later, on April 9, 2002.
Corona reached the peak of his legal career on May 12, 2010, when he
became chief justice. But the circumstances of his appointment were
questionable because under Section 15, Article 7 of the Constitution, a
sitting president is barred from appointing vacancies in the judiciary
during an election period.
His assumption of the post of Chief Justice and head of the judiciary
now forms part of the grounds of Article 1, which states: “Respondent
betrayed the public trust through his track record marked by partiality
and subservience in cases involving the Arroyo administration from the
time of his appointment as Supreme Court justice which continued to his
dubious appointment as a midnight Chief Justice and up to the present.”
Evidentiary weight
The presentation of evidence was highly anticipated not only by the
senator-judges and the defense but also by the people crowding the
Senate gallery for one cogent reason: The actors and spectators in this
political exercise may now appreciate the evidentiary weight of the
documents initially leaked by the prosecution to the public via the
media.
The initial debacle encountered by the prosecution, which was widely
criticized for its decision to rearrange the presentation of evidence in
support of the eight articles of impeachment, had stymied the
proceedings, a fact enunciated by the senator-judges during this week’s
trial.
Thus, the presentation of witnesses was a welcome development:
Esguerra-Vidal and Dimaandal to attest to the veracity of the SALNs;
Randy Rutaquio, Register of Deeds of Taguig City, and lawyer Carlo
Alcantara, acting Register of Deeds of Quezon City, to the authenticity
of the deeds of sale of the properties; and Sedfrey Garcia, Register of
Deeds of Marikina City, also to the authenticity of the deeds of sale.
The audience at the gallery, which for days had been showing signs of
boredom, found renewed enthusiasm, craning forward to look at the
bureaucrats seated on the witness stand.
The senator-judges have also ensured that the proceedings were moving
forward, raising points of order and posing questions to the witnesses
even at the risk of being seen by others as lawyering for the relatively
inexperienced prosecutors from the House of Representatives.
The active participation of Senators Alan Peter Cayetano, Vicente
Sotto III, Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada, Franklin Drilon, Joker Arroyo,
Edgardo Angara, Teofisto Guingona III, Pia Cayetano, Francis Escudero
and Francis Pangilinan and the efficiency with which Senate President
Juan Ponce Enrile was marshaling the proceedings have ensured that the
procedural obstacles thrown by the defense would not derail the trial.
‘Continuing objection’
The lead defense lawyer, former Supreme Court Associate Justice
Serafin Cuevas, has taken every opportunity to object to prosecution
moves, in an effort to cast doubt on the credibility of the witnesses to
testify on the probative value of the documents subpoenaed by the
impeachment court.
Watching virtually every word coming from the prosecution, Cuevas has
also repeatedly registered an objection to the line of questioning of
Cavite Representative Elpidio Barzaga and private prosecutors Mario
Bautista and Jose Justiniano.
The defense has maintained that the articles of impeachment lacked
appropriate “charges” against Corona, and claimed that the Chief Justice
was being tried for allegations based on “reports and suspicion, in
violation of the rules of pleading.”
For an impeachment complaint to be answered, it should “state factual matters,” Cuevas said.
To speed up the trial, Enrile has recommended that Cuevas register “a
continuing objection” to the presentation of evidence arising from the
submission of documents by the Supreme Court Clerk of Court, Malacañang
Records Office and Land Registration Authority.
Cuevas agreed to do so since it would give Corona the legal standing
to later question the conduct of the impeachment proceedings in another
forum should the senator-judges render an unfavorable decision at the
end of the trial.
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