Clear, convincing evidence needed to convict Corona

It will take clear and convincing evidence for the Senate, sitting as an impeachment court, to decide on the guilt or conviction of Chief Justice Renato Corona on allegations that he betrayed public trust, culpably violated the Constitution and committed graft and corruption.

This is the quantum of evidence which the presiding officer of the impeachment court and Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile wanted the Senate body to delve into as the impeachment court would move to judge Corona once the defense finalizes its presentation of evidence to controvert the prosecution’s assertions in a month of trial.

“Each member of the impeachment court has their own standards. They are not alike,” Enrile said when asked what quantum of evidence the body would use in deciding the Corona case.

For him, Enrile said he is setting the bar on the quantum of evidence to “clear and convincing evidence.”

Enrile reiterated anew that it would be for the good of the country if Corona were to testify before the body.

“It will settle a lot of issues… he is the best witness to clarify the issues,” he said.

Enrile said he would like to hear from Corona about the reported internal problems of the Supreme Court as well as clarifications on his bank deposits, which source of information is still being questioned by the Chief Justice’s lawyers.

Informed of lead defense counsel Serafin Cuevas’ statement that it would not be seemly for Corona to testify, Enrile said he would leave the final decision to the defense lawyers.

“I leave it to them, I’m not the lawyer of the Chief Justice. For me, Corona would be the best person to controvert, to rebut all the accusations against him. And I’m sure that he can handle the questions,” Enrile said.

‘Sole power to try and decide’

Unlike in the American law where the Senate has the sole power to try all impeachment cases, Enrile said the Philippine Senate has the “sole power to try and decide” in an impeachment case in the country.

“Our limitations are if private rights are involved in the course of the trial, if the Bill of Rights are involved in the course of the trial. If illegal searches are involved in the course of the trial, the Supreme Court has jurisdiction,” Enrile said.

Enrile said the Senate would be judged by the people if they made the proper decision at the end of the trial.

“On that limited area of sole power to try and decide, the Supreme Court has no jurisdiction, no appellation, no appeal to the SC either by the prosecutors or the defense. If we arrive at a decision, that is final. The appeal would come from the people. They will kick us all out if ever we committed an error in our decision,” he added.

Parameters set

According to Enrile, the senator-judges will decide on Article 2, 3 and 7 only since the prosecution dropped the other five Articles of Impeachment against Corona early this week.

“Yes, no more, no less. Nothing more, totally as if the impeachment is reduced only to three,” he said.

Even if the five articles were dropped, Enrile said the defense could still use the evidence they gathered for the remaining three articles of impeachment if they see it relevant to their defense.

Enrile reiterated his call to both the defense and prosecution panels not to bring the impeachment case outside of the impeachment court.

He said the Senate will finish the impeachment case until the end, noting that it might not sound good to the Filipino citizenry if the Senate body would order this verified complaint back to the House of Representatives which would be tantamount to the dismissal of the case against Corona.

As regards President Aquino’s continuing attacks against the Chief Justice and open support to the prosecution panel, Enrile said it is within the right of any official “to express his own opinion.”

But Enrile said Aquino’s statement should not be taken as a pressure to him or any other senator-judge to rule in the administration’s favor.

Asked if he would like to give any advice to Aquino, Enrile said they both came from a co-equal department of government and declared in jest that he is “a very expensive adviser.”

On the questions that the Articles of Impeachment against Corona were not well crafted, Enrile said it should now be a lesson to the House of Representatives to ensure that their verified complaint is well studied.

“What happens now is a lesson and I hope the House will take this as a friendly advice, that before they bring the impeachment complaint to us in the Senate it should be well- crafted... it’s not open to different interpretations,” Enrile said.

Prior to the start of the impeachment last Jan. 16, Enrile said he studied all the provisions on the grounds of impeachment to allow him to have a clear and more objective picture on how to deal with the different issues during the trial.

“Graft and corruption, other high crimes, bribery, treason, culpable violation and betrayal of public trust. I studied all of those before the start of the hearing. What each ground meant,” he said.

Enrile added the defense camp can start with its presentation of witnesses and testimo- nies on March 12 as set by the court last Wednesday.

“Subject to the reservation, the defense may now proceed or the court will decide,” he said.