At the End of the Day

WITH THE CORONA counsels seeking the Supreme Court intervention to stop the Impeachment Trial on Chief Justice Renato Corona, and the Impeachment Court junking the Santiago motion for reconsideration (MR) against the issuance of subpoena on two banks to furnish the court records of Corona accounts, a showdown is offing between the Senate acting as an impeachment court and the Supreme Court known for its rulings "perceived as not impartial." There are two good things that will come out of this development. First, it will demand a show on how far the balance of power in the Constitutionally-mandated branches of "democratic republican government" work when such balance is assailed by no less than the Chief of the high court himself. With majority of associate justices known to be Corona allies as far as certain controversial rulings are concerned, there is a strong possibility that the majority of SC justices en banc will favor the petition to stop the impeachme...

IF YOU CANNOT prevent the truth from getting out into the open court, move instead to eliminate judges that may likely vote for the truth. Despite the official rationale that the defense broadcasted in its move to oust Senator Franklin Drinlon as a senator-judge in the CJ Corona Impeachment Trial, it is obvious that the hidden motive is to bring down the percentage of potential votes towards the truth that may be adverse to the interest of their client, Chief Justice Renato Corona. It is a number's game. The required minimum voters to affirm the Article 2, which is 16, will not be met. And their chance increases with one judge out. The defensive move once again telegraphs their fear to get the truth of the complaint out into the open. If the fear among the defense team advocates exist, then truth may not be on their side. And the Filipino people know exactly what they are up to. And yet again they have to realize that the rules of judicial court does not apply i...

DAY SIX in the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona showed confusion in the court. And it centers on a tax reporting document that even Senate president Juan Ponce Enrile was not familiar of--the Alpha List. It is a list of single-income employees that their company submit to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) in lieu of an employee's individual filing of her annual income tax return (ITR). Prosecution private lawyer Arthur Lim knew the Alpha List well enough; he got serious problem cross-examining the witness, BIR Commissioner Kim Jacinto-Henares, without touching on the issue of ill-gotten wealth that the Senate, acting as the Impeachment Court, ruled as inadmissible for presentation of evidence. He attempted to continue at least three time, stumbled into the non-issue again and again. Defense lead counsel Serafin Cuevas was in his elements. He obviously knew what is an Alpha list is. But nevertheless strategically tried to throw the prosecution off the tr...