Congressmen-prosecutors in the impeachment trial of supreme court justice renato corona have called on the high court dismiss petitions assailing the validity of the impeachment.
Bayan Muna rep. Neri Colmenares, “Sana wag na pangunahan ng sc ang senado it will be incestuous for sc to decide on the validity of the impeachment against cj hayaan senado magdecide wag na sana makialam.”
Citing the constitution, Dasmarinas City Rep. Elpidio Barzaga opined that the supreme court risks a constitutional crisis if it insists on tackling the petition. “in as much as the constitution has given this authority to the house and senate we call this a political question to which the house and senate were given the exclusive power to decide, it is not a judicial or justiciable controversy if we allow the sc to assume power or decide on an action made by hor on ground of grave abuse of discretion it necessarily follows sc shall have power to review the action of the senate. it will lead to a constitutional crisis which might happen.”
Barzaga adds that the “Senate may convict but if we allow the sc to review the decision of the senate…if there will be a conviction the president under the laws would appoint a new cj that would be a legal question if sc would reinstate cj on ground of grave abuse of discretion definitely there will be serious problems.”
Barzaga says any decision of the high court on this impeachment case will always be prone to questions and doubts. “the public will always say sc was not impartial considering its their chief which is the subject of the petition.”
Lead prosecutor, justice committee chairman niel tupas, “We just want to make it clear as far as the (hor) is concerned the process is completed we transmitted articles to the senate now there’s petition questionning whatever happens if ever, there will be a tro or sqa it will be upto the senate.”
The congressmen prosecutors held an organizational meeting today to work on the delegation of labor. It is also expected to draft a comment on the petitions before the high court.
They are organizing the legal secretariat, finance, and public communication. they will also ask for authority to hire private lawyers. Tupas however expressed concerns if private lawyers will be willing to take on the task of challenging the chief justice especially since they may have clients with cases in the SC. Tupas says speaker sonny Belmonte wants to hire private prosecutors. ““ I don’t know of mainstream law firms will help prosecution because this impeachment against cj but still there are a lot of lawyers law firms volunteering we will have enough legal support come January”
Tupas revealed they expect to finalize the list of assignments of prosecutors handling the individual cases.
Article i
Respondent betrayed the public trust through his track record marked by partiality and subservience in cases involving the arroyo administration from the time of his appointment as supreme court justice and until his dubious appointment as a midnight chief justice to the present. (neri colmenares raul daza reynaldo umali niel tupas, sherwin tugna)
Article ii
Respondent committed culpable violation of the constitution and/or betrayed the public trust when he failed to disclose to the public his statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth as required under sec. 17, art. Xi of the 1987 constitution. Lorenzo tanada elpidio barzaga
Respondent committed culpable violations of the constitution and betrayed the public trust by failing to meet and observe the stringent standards under art. Viii, section 7 (3) of the constitution that provides 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; in creating an excessive entanglement with mrs. Arroyo through her appointment of his wife to office; and in discussing with litigants regarding cases pending before the supreme court. Giorggidi aggabao, arlene bag ao
Respondent betrayed the public trust and/or committed culpable violation of the constitution when he blatantly disregarded the principle of separation of powers by issuing a “status quo ante” order against the house of representatives in the case concerning the impeachment of then ombudsman merceditas navarro-gutierrez. (rodolfo farinas, raul daza reynaldo umali arlene bag ao
Article v
Respondent betrayed the public trust through wanton arbitrariness and partiality in consistently disregarding the principle of res judicata in the cases involving the 16 newly-created cities, and the promotion of dinagat island into a province. Lorenzo tanada elpidio barzaga
Article vi
Respondent betrayed the public trust by arrogating unto himself, and to a committee he created, the authority and jurisdiction to improperly investigate a justice of the supreme court for the purpose of exculpating him. Such authority and jurisdiction is properly reposed by the constitution in the house of representatives via impeachment. (rodolfo farinas reynaldo umali arlene bag ao sherwin tugna
Respondent betrayed the public trust through his partiality in granting a temporary restraining order (tro) in favor of former president gloria macapagal-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 effectivity of the tro in view of a clear failure to comply with the conditions of the supreme court’s own tro. (neri colmenares giorggidi reynaldo umali
Article viii
Respondent betrayed the public trust and/or committed graft and corruption when he failed and refused to account for the judiciary development fund (jdf) and special allowance for the judiciary (saj) collections. (rodolfo farinas, aggabao lorenzo tanada)
Tupas says the panel is also expected to discuss who else will complete the 11 man panel. Currently there are 10, including jun abaya who will be the prosecution manager. The panel hopes to face the media in January with more details on their work.
Abaya revealed that other congressmen are also volunteering to help with the secretariat, like congressmen bolet banal, dina abad and Irwin alcala.” as impeachment manager my primary task is to keep coffee hot, tummies filled, morale of prosecutors high, well make sure everybody will have working but meaningful Christmas, “
Abaya hopes corona will resign during the break “ If he resigns during break it saves a lot of money”
