Chasing pavements; turning tables.

These themes have earned raspy-voiced British soul/pop diva Adele six Grammy Awards.

Quite curiously, the same themes seem to define the ongoing impeachment trial of Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona.

Indeed, so many pavements have been chased for evidence and testimonies sought to pin down Corona on his questioned personal finances.

True, there have been legal dead- ends or detours as well. But one thing is clear thus far: The tables have, indeed, turned, at least for one impeachment court officer. 

The impeached CJ now has the burden of proving his innocence for two reasons: first, because pieces of evidence so far presented by the prosecution tend to show that Corona’s wealth is disproportionate to his lawful income and second, because of his suppression of evidence concerning his foreign currency deposits.

Lead Prosecutor Niel C. Tupas, Jr. made this observation following the SC’s issuance last week of a temporary restraining order stopping the Senate impeachment court from disclosing Corona’s dollar accounts with several local banks.

“Initially, the prosecution had the burden of proving its accusations against Chief Justice Corona because of the presumption of innocence.  But now, the tables have turned because of the presumptions provided in the Philippine Forfeiture Law and the Revised Rules on Evidence. Chief Justice Corona no longer enjoys the presumption of innocence and now has to prove that the allegations in the impeachment complaint are not true. The burden of proof has now shifted to the defense,” Tupas said. 

He explained that Republic Act 1379 or the Philippine Forfeiture Law provides for the presumption that property has been unlawfully acquired when such property is disproportionate to a public officer’s or employee’s lawful income. 

In the course of the hearings on Article 2 of the impeachment complaint concerning the CJ’s failure to file his Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth, the prosecution was able to show that Corona’s net worth was disproportionate to his income as CJ, the Visayan solon said. 

“Under Republic Act No. 6426 or the Foreign Currency Deposit Act, foreign deposits may be inquired into or inspected in any proceeding upon the written consent of the depositor.  In the Chief Justice’s case, he has not only refused to give his consent for the impeachment court to inspect his foreign currency deposits but has sought a TRO from the Supreme Court to stop the impeachment court from requiring the banks to disclose any information concerning his foreign deposits,” Tupas said. 

He added that despite his denial of any wrongdoing, the CJ has allegedly blocked the truth from coming out at all cost and that “Corona’s willful suppression of evidence regarding his foreign deposits has given rise to the presumption that such evidence would be adverse to his case if produced.” Unless the CJ can prove otherwise, this presumption stays and is satisfactory, Tupas said. 

The Ilonggo lawmaker  challenged Corona to be candid if the latter had nothing to hide and to disclose the necessary information in the interest of truth. 

Testimonies on the CJ’s peso accounts with some local banks from witnesses last week showed huge deposits in his name.  These testimonies are considered by many observers as a major breakthrough for the prosecution.

*  *  *

Pushed to the wall

When the world outside seems stacked against you, where do you seek shelter?

Your own house, of course. Which is exactly what Corona did. 

Pushed to the wall with revelations of owning multi-million-peso real estate properties and maintaining fat bank deposits, he has turned to his colleagues in the SC to yank  him out of the murky mess.

The TRO issued by the SC on the disclosure of his foreign currency deposits is an ill-disguised attempt to secure his acquittal by TRO,  a  House prosecution team pointed out.

The question really is: Why doesn’t the impeached CJ want to open his dollar accounts? What is he hiding?

Is he afraid that disclosure of such accounts  would open a can of worms, that his claimed four decades of “hard and honest toil” during which he said he accumulated a lot of savings would turn out to be otherwise? 

The guy may have won a reprieve from the gallows with Monday’s vote by the Senate to honor the SC TRO on his dollar accounts, but his euphoria may be short-lived.

It is well to bear in mind that even the senator-judges who voted in favor of the TRO said they would go to the SC to argue for the lifting of the TRO if only to avoid a constitutional crisis.

And Ped Xing thinks all the senators would vigorously oppose any TRO that would stop the impeachment trial itself. If the SC issues such a TRO, then a full-blown constitutional crisis would ensue, no thanks to the CJ.

The possibility of a serious constitutional crisis arising from the  Judiciary curtailing the power of the Senate sitting as an impeachment court to execute its constitutional mandate underscores the need for the SC to rise above its obvious bias for Corona and immediately lift the TRO on his dollar accounts.

If the guy has nothing to hide, he must voluntarily open his dollar accounts to public scrutiny.

He cannot hide behind a mere promise to open his dollar accounts “in due time”. 

Opening them is relevant and material to Article 2 of the impeachment complaint that says he has failed to file accurate and timely SALN.

The truth must be unraveled now to save the country from a constitutional crisis.

*  *  *

How lucky can one judge get?

Jesus Mupas, the colorful Pasay City Regional Trial Court judge bagged the cases of a controversial former president and an equally controversial former chairman of the Commission on Elections.

Mupas, according to new reports, was once reprimanded by the SC for allegedly sitting on long-pending cases.         Then, to further add color to his character, the good judge caught the public’s attention by abruptly changing his “style” and coming up with what some legal pundits say was one of the swiftest judicial proceedings in the history of the country.

In record time, Mupas was said to have thoroughly read some eight thick volumes of documents. He then swiftly slapped former president Arroyo with a ruling that there was probable cause to try her on charges of sabotaging the 2007 senatorial elections.

He later on faced accusations -- quite unfairly and unfortunately, to be sure -- that certain individuals claiming to be his emissaries tried to allegedly make monetary demand  from former Comelec chairman Benjamin Abalos, Sr.

How true is this, Ped Xing  doesn’t know.

Legal observers are saying that this could be just a legal strategy on the part of the accused.

But not too fast.

It may not be easy for the public to simply look the other way and laugh off the accusation.

Last month, the media reported that in May 2011 a similar complaint was filed with the SC by a certain Jose Crame against the judge.

Again, it has not been established whether this allegation is true or not. The fate of this complaint is also unknown.

What Ped Xing simply wants to point out is the judge’s worrisome  seeming vulnerability to involuntary involvement in controversies like this.

Maybe, he is a magnet for controversies, and this is not doing good for the important tasks he is supposed to perform. Quite decidedly, he doesn’t deserve this.

If memory serves, he has already been asked to inhibit himself from hearing the case against Abalos. He has so far refused.

The judge may have found himself in a difficult situation because of the allegations against him. He now has to fan away swirling perceptions that he may no longer be as impartial as is expected of him. At the end of the day, the public just wants a fair trial for the two.

But it is the nation which may have been placed in a more difficult situation. The people want a proper conclusion to the saga of the former president and former Comelec chief. Truth and justice are what they want.

And given the colorful character and history of the judge, the people can’t help but think that the wheels of justice might have to roll much painstakingly lower with him at the steering wheel.

They want a trial whose results  could be hardly questioned.

In this case, the judge might actually be doing the country great service by inhibiting himself from the two cases.

Such a move could brush brighter hues into his colorful character.