THE House prosecution panel will prove that impeached Supreme Court (SC) Chief Justice Renato Corona and his wife allegedly accepted special privileges from the management of the Philippine Airlines (PAL) while cases involving the country’s flag carrier are still pending with the Higher Court.

The panel, led by Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas Jr., said it will present witnesses and documentary evidence, particularly the travel records of the Corona couple, to prove one of their allegations in Article III of the impeachment case filed against the chief magistrate.

Article III accuses Corona of culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust for his “failure to meet and observe the stringent standards of the Constitution that a member of the judiciary must be a person of proven competence, integrity, probity and independence in allowing the Supreme Court to act on mere letters filed by a counsel which caused the issuance of flip-flopping decisions in final and executory cases,” among others.

House prosecutors cited a recent resolution of the SC recalling its earlier final decision on the illegal retrenchment case filed by the Flight Attendants and Stewards Association of the Philippines (FASAP) against PAL by acting on a mere letter from the air carrier’s lawyer Estelito Mendoza.

They said it will present five witnesses in connection with the PAL case, which include representatives from the Bureau of Immigration (BI), PAL, Supreme Court, Prestige Travel Agency, and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Prosecutors said the BI representative will produce and testify on the travel records of Corona and wife, Cristina, “to show that he accepted special privileges from PAL management while PAL cases are pending before the Supreme Court.”