JUSTICE Secretary Lela de Lima yesterday said that Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato C. Corona did not act alone in drafting the resolution that granted the temporary restraining order to former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Secretary De Lima made the statement in connection with the Article of Impeachment No. 7, which accuses Chief Justice Corona of “partiality... in granting a temporary restraining order in favor of former President Arroyo and her husband, Jose Miguel Arroyo in order to give them an opportunity to escape prosecution and to frustrate the ends of justice, and in distorting the Supreme Court decision on the affectivity of the TRO to comply with the conditions of the Supreme Court’s own TRO.”

De Lima is the first witness of the prosecution for Article 7 after the prosecution team concluded the discussion on Article 3.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, presiding officer of the impeachment court, asked De Lima if there was any instance where Corona acted alone in issuing any order, any process or any resolution on restraining the DOJ in carrying out the watch list order.

“No. (There is) no resolution, orders or processes from (the) SC which was issued alone by the respondent,” De Lima replied.

However, she added there were some matters worth looking into, particularly the dissenting opinion of Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.

De Lima recounted the issuance of a watch list order and why the department decided to junk Arroyo’s request for an “allow departure” order.

“Hindi naman lahat ng... nilagay na bansa...  dahil magpapagamot. Merong kasama doon for example sa New York, USA... mag-attend raw po ng conference, Clinton Global Initiative Meeting; sa Geneva on abolition of death penalty. Kung ang kaniyang pagpunta sa ibang bansa para makakuha ng best medical treatment abroad, bakit ho kasama sa kanyang mga paiba-ibang itinerary ang ganyang events or purposes,” De Lima added.

Earlier, the prosecution team in the impeachment trial concluded its presentation of evidence on Article 3 after it dropped two accusations in the same article of the verified complaint.

The prosecution said it would focus its evidence only on the case between Philippine Airlines and the Flight Attendants’ and Stewards’ Association of the Philippines against Corona.

They told the court that they will be dropping allegations particularly “in creating an excessive entanglement with Mrs. Arroyo through her appointment of his wife to office; in discussing with litigants regarding cases pending before the Supreme Court” and the use of public funds for personal use.