THE Supreme Court will not halt the impeachment trial of its embattled chief.

The High Court, during its first full court hearing this year, junked pleas for a temporary restraining order against the trial filed by five petitioners who questioned its legality.

Instead, the High Tribunal ordered the House of Representatives and Senate to file within 10 days their comments on the petitions.     

Also, Court Administrator Jose Midas Marquez divulged in a news briefing that Corona inhibited himself during yesterday’s deliberations on the five petitions against the impeachment.

The petitioners were tax informer Danilo Lihaylihay, lawyer Vladimir Cabigao, former Integrated Bar of the Philippines president Vicente Millora, lawyer Oliver Lozano, and lawyers Homobono Adaza and Allan Paguia.

All petitions questioned the validity of the impeachment process as they cited the lack of verification by the 188 complainants from the House of Representatives as required by the rules and the Constitution.

Adaza and Paguia claimed that the eight articles of impeachment violate certain provisions of the Constitution.

Among other things, the two lawyers claimed that the impeachment complaint was not properly verified by the complainants when forwarded to the Senate.

Since the complaint was not verified as provided for by the rules and the Constitution, “the so called ‘verified complaint’ is a mere scrap of paper with no legal effect,” they said.

They also said that Corona was denied due process and equal protection provided for in the Constitution.

A total of 188 congressmen signed the impeachment complaint against Chief Justice Corona for violations of the Constitution, betrayal of public trust, and graft and corruption.