Sen. Panfilo Lacson is unhappy with the numerous objections lodged by the defense at Chief Justice Renato Corona\u2019s impeachment trial and considers these a deterrent to swift justice.<\/p>\n
He said he would officially manifest to his fellow senator-judges his observation that the proceedings were being \u201cconsistently bogged down by so many objections on the floor that accomplish nothing except a delay in the trial.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lacson said that after seeing the defense block the prosecution\u2019s attempt to present evidence every step of the way, the proceedings so far had made him \u201cunderstand why it is impossible for justice to be rendered swiftly and fairly.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said his experience as a law enforcement official had made him familiar with court processes, especially criminal litigation.<\/p>\n
\u201cA poor litigant will quit after exhausting whatever little savings he has when confronted in court by so many legal technicalities that delay his quest for justice,\u201d Lacson said Friday in a text message.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cNow I understand why poor litigants seek justice outside the courtroom, either by [taking] the law in their own hands to settle the score against a rich and powerful respondent, or turn to the [New People\u2019s Army\u2019s] kangaroo court.<\/p>\n
\u201cI intend to manifest next week before my co-jurors this observation, with the sole purpose of expediting the trial while preserving due process. There must be a balance between the two concerns, and we must find that balance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Repeated blocking<\/strong><\/p>\n On Thursday, former Supreme Court Associate Justice Serafin Cuevas, the lead defense lawyer, repeatedly blocked Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga\u2019s attempt to present evidence to prove that Corona had failed to include expensive properties in his statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALNs), in a separate charge of graft and ill-gotten wealth against the Chief Justice under Article 2.<\/p>\n On Wednesday, Cuevas et al. would have succeeded in blocking Supreme Court Clerk of Court Enriqueta Vidal from submitting Corona\u2019s SALNs for the period 2002-2011 had Sen. Franklin Drilon not elicited an admission from her that she had actually brought copies of the documents.<\/p>\n On Tuesday, the second day of the trial, Barzaga was forced to move for an adjournment after Cuevas questioned the authenticity of \u201ccomputer-generated\u201d documents that the prosecutor had planned to present to the impeachment court to prove that Corona owned several properties that he did not declare in his SALNs.<\/p>\n \u2018Premature judgment\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n On the phone with the Inquirer, Sen. Gregorio Honasan issued the reminder that members of the impeachment court were not barred from questioning witnesses after their testimony.<\/p>\n Honasan, who also served as a senator-judge during the aborted impeachment trial of then President Joseph Estrada from late 2000 to early 2001, pointed out that he could even pose questions to Cuevas if he wanted to.<\/p>\n Honasan said Cuevas made \u201ca premature judgment\u201d when he accused Drilon of \u201csubstituting\u201d for House prosecutors. Drilon had questioned Vidal after private prosecutor Mario Bautista failed to convince the clerk of court to surrender Corona\u2019s SALNs.<\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s be clear that senator-judges, if they have clarificatory questions, can intervene. They can ask actually anything from anybody\u2014prosecutors, the defense panel, and the witnesses,\u201d he said. \u201cNobody can stop us from doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n Honasan expressed the belief that Cuevas and other defense lawyers might have been emboldened to air their sentiment because the impeachment court did not discipline the House prosecutors for prematurely disclosing Corona\u2019s supposedly secret assets.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the consequence of our failure to moderate our words, actions and public pronouncements,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Honasan recalled that after the senator-judges cried foul over the prosecution\u2019s premature release of information on the 303-square-meter penthouse unit supposedly owned by Corona in Taguig City, \u201cno one was cited for contempt [despite calls to do so].\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cShortly after that, Cuevas insinuated that Malaca\u00f1ang is approaching senator-judges to convince them to vote for a conviction\u2026 What is happening is the continuous process of trial by publicity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Honasan called on everyone concerned to \u201callow the process to finish.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLet it unfold. [Give it the] benefit of the doubt. The trial is a work in progress,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He also said the defense should \u201cgive the prosecutors a break.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEven a seasoned lawyer like Mario Bautista can get nervous in front of a judge. What more in front of 23 senator-judges?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Honasan said sitting as a judge was \u201ca heavy burden\u201d and that the Senate, like the rest of the nation, was \u201con trial\u201d on whether it could dispense justice.<\/p>\n He said the people \u201cowned the process\u201d but appealed to them to \u201cnot be swayed\u201d by emotion and refrain from making conclusions early on.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we make premature conclusions, it would be unfair to the senator-judges and to the Filipino people. We can\u2019t impute partisanship to them at this early stage. Let\u2019s not become impatient. This is a serious process,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Challenge to senators<\/strong><\/p>\n In another phone interview, Sen. Joker Arroyo said the challenge facing him and his colleagues in the coming weeks of the impeachment trial was to act as \u201ctrue jurors.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe public expects the senators to be like true jurors, and [it] will hold the Senate to that,\u201d Arroyo said. \u201cThe challenge is to be impartial and objective.\u201d<\/p>\n Arroyo, who was among the prosecutors of then President Estrada on charges of corruption, incompetence and inefficiency, said the senators were aware that the public was watching \u201cwhether the Senate will be impartial.\u201d<\/p>\n Commenting on Cuevas\u2019 comment that Drilon was \u201csubstituting\u201d for the prosecution, Arroyo said: \u201cIs that not a test of what the public wants\u2014absolute neutrality on the part of the Senate? That is our oath: to dispense impartial justice.\u201d<\/p>\n He said it was also incumbent on the media to deliver a fair coverage for the benefit of the public.<\/p>\n \u201cSince the viewership [of Corona\u2019s impeachment trial] doesn\u2019t approximate the one of Estrada, where public participation was almost total, generally the public has to rely on media\u2019s report and interpretation. That puts a responsibility on the part of the media to report fairly as the events happen in the trial,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n To the contending camps he issued this challenge: \u201cThe prosecution should prove whatever it stated in the articles, and the defense should controvert and disprove the evidence of the prosecution.\u201d<\/p>\n Search for truth<\/strong><\/p>\n In a statement, the group called Former Senior Government Officials (FSGO) called for sobriety from all sides in the course of the trial.<\/p>\n \u201cWe should not let the lawyers\u2019 argumentation and legal technicalities blind us to the moral essence of why CJ Corona is being impeached,\u201d the FSGO said.<\/p>\n It said it agreed with the lead prosecutor, Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas Jr., who said: \u201cWe are not here to indict the Supreme Court as an institution, or to do battle with the judicial branch of government. We are here to search for the truth so as to restore the strength and independence of the judiciary.\u201d<\/p>\n First posted 12:09 am | Saturday, January 21st, 2012<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sen. Panfilo Lacson is unhappy with the numerous objections lodged by the defense at Chief Justice Renato Corona\u2019s impeachment trial and considers these a deterrent to swift justice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32343,481,36,37],"tags":[36477,40291],"byline":[812,132],"source":[206078],"column":[],"editor":[],"videographer":[],"position":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n