Top lawyers to defend Corona

CHIEF Justice Renato Corona yesterday formally filed his answer to eight impeachment articles before the Senate and sought the outright dismissal of these charges for lack of basis.

In a 79-page answer, Corona described the articles of impeachment as the “most single destructive legislative act of Congress because it was done with record haste with some of the signatories (lawmakers) having not read what they were signing.”

“In blitzkrieg fashion, 188 Members of the House of Representatives signed the Articles of Impeachment, causing the immediate transmission of the complaint to the Senate. Almost instantly, some Members of the House resigned from the majority coalition, amidst complaints of undue haste in the filing of the Articles of Impeachment. It appears that Members were expected to sign on being offered tangible rewards, even if denied the opportunity to read the Articles of Impeachment and examine the evidence against CJ Corona,” the answer read in part.

As this developed, Court Administrator Jose Midas Marquez yesterday announced the composition of the six-man legal team to defend Corona during trial. He said that all these lawyers are “seasoned trial lawyers” ready to wage war during trial.

Led by former Justice Secretary Serafin Cuevas, Corona’s legal team is composed of Ateneo resident constitutionalist Jacinto Jimenez, former Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila president Jose Roy III, lawyer Ernesto Francisco Jr., and two other lawyers from the Siguion Reyna law firm.

Corona further said it is obvious that his impeachment was political in nature, so much that it would be hard to believe that the ruling Liberal Party has nothing to do with the filing of the impeachment cases.

“A fair assessment of the prevailing political climate will support the contention that the filing of the Articles of Impeachment was the handiwork of the Liberal Party alone. Surely, one cannot ignore the inexplicable readiness of the Members of the House to instantly agree to sign the Articles of Impeachment. Without much effort, one reaches the inevitable conclusion that President Benigno C. Aquino III, as the head of the Liberal Party, must have been ‘in’ on the plan from inception. In contrast, it is unlikely that President Aquino knew nothing of the plans to impeach the Chief Justice,” Corona said.

He added that the impeachment complaints were from the very start biased against him by linking him to former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.   

“What we have before us, then, is a Complaint born out of the bias against CJ Corona and the predisposition to destroy him by associating him with the unpopular former President Gloria Macapagal- Arroyo and by misinterpreting his concurrence to certain Supreme Court decisions as protecting former President Arroyo. What we also have are hidden forces who will be benefited by CJ Corona’s ouster and who are conspiring and causing intrigue behind the scene to ensure his removal…” he said.

Furthermore, he linked his ouster to the High Court’s ruling on Hacienda Luisita which ordered the immediate distribution of the prime agricultural lands to farmer-beneficiaries.

The Senate received at 3:25 p.m. the 79-page document containing Corona’s answer to the impeachment case lodged before the Upper Chamber. 

Valentina Cruz, Senate impeachment court spokesperson, said the Upper Chamber would instruct the prosecution panel to submit in five days its comment on Corona’s answer. “Since January 1, 2012 is a holiday, they have until January 2 to file a reply,” she said.

The original copy will be sent to the Senate Archives while photocopies will be furnished the Senate President, the 23 senators, defense panel, the prosecution panel, the Senate secretary, the deputy secretary for legislation, the Senate legal counsel, the executive director for legislative services, the Public Relations and Information Bureau (PRIB), and the Bills and Index Service.  With Bernadette E. Tamayo