MANILA, Philippines - Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said yesterday that he has asked House prosecutors to thoroughly prepare for their job and “present the best possible case that we can” in the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona.
Belmonte said he will consult with the prosecution team if the House would have to elect more prosecutors as the impeachment trial moves along.
“We will make available a budget of not more than P5 million for them so they can get the help they want,” he said.
Belmonte, who managed the prosecution in then President Joseph Estrada’s Senate impeachment trial in 2001, recalled that then Speaker Arnulfo Fuentebella provided his team with a P5-million budget.
The House of Representatives constituted on Tuesday night the team that will prosecute Corona in his Senate impeachment trial.
Elected members of the prosecution team were Reps. Niel Tupas Jr. of Iloilo, Erin Tañada of Quezon, Rodolfo Fariñas of Ilocos Norte, Reynaldo Umali of Mindoro Oriental, Giorgidi Aggabao of Isabela, Miro Quimbo of Marikina, Elpidio Barzaga Jr. of Cavite, Neri Colmenares of Bayan Muna and Arlene Bag-ao of Akbayan.
Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II said Tupas, chairman of the committee on justice that drafted the impeachment complaint, heads the prosecution team.
Gonzales said Tupas and his colleagues would decide if they have to hire private prosecutors.
“The team would now have to prepare for the task ahead by studying the evidence and interviewing witnesses,” he added.
The Senate expects to begin trying Corona when Congress, which starts its Christmas break this weekend, resumes session middle of next month.
No arm-twisting
Belmonte denied that he and other House leaders resorted to arm-twisting and “bribery” in obtaining 188 signatures for Corona’s impeachment.
He said he made it clear to his colleagues during Monday’s majority caucus that signing the impeachment complaint against Corona was voluntary on everyone’s part.
“There are 188 people who signed the complaint, including the best minds in the House. Nobody ever talked about PDAF (priority development assistance fund), nobody ever talked about that,” he said.
The Speaker said one member who did not want to go for Corona’s impeachment has in fact received his full P70-million PDAF allocation this year. He did not identify the congressman.
“Nobody was misled. I don’t believe anybody was misled. In fact, I made it very plain from the very beginning that if any member does not want to sign, it’s okay with me. We will continue to be friends and allies,” Belmonte said.
He pointed out that the impeachment charges were explained to those who attended the caucus and that no one could claim he signed the complaint without reading or understanding it.
“The complaint was outlined in front of everybody. There were copies of the complaint available (to members). It was fully explained to them with the aid of visuals,” he added.
Gonzales said Belmonte did not use the PDAF to “blackmail” those who did not want to support Corona’s impeachment.
“Our colleagues were free to support or not support the impeachment. In fact, some of those we expected to go with us did not sign the complaint,” he said, apparently referring to at least two House leaders – Deputy Speakers Pablo Garcia of Cebu and Jesus Crispin Remulla of Cavite – and Reps. Rodolfo Biazon of Muntinlupa, Hermilando Mandanas of Batangas and Sergio Apostol of Leyte.
The five attended Monday’s majority caucus that tackled Corona’s impeachment but left early.
Garcia and Remulla belong to the National Unity Party (NUP) and Nacionalista Party (NP), respectively. Biazon and Mandanas are original Liberal Party (LP) members, while Apostol, who served in various posts in the Arroyo administration, jumped from Lakas to LP after last year’s elections.
Mandanas was replaced last night as chairman of the House ways and means committee.
The chamber elected Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab as the new chairman.
Shortly before his replacement, Mandanas told reporters that he would lose his committee chairmanship for not supporting Corona’s impeachment.
On Tuesday, Navotas Rep. Tobias Tiangco, who also did not support Corona’s impeachment, resigned from the majority and gave up his chairmanship of the committee on Metro Manila development.
The House elected San Juan Rep. Joseph Victor Ejercito as new committee chairman.
Both Tobias and Ejercito belong to the Partido ng Masang Pilipino, which Ejercito’s father, former President Estrada, founded.
Make Corona accountable
Meanwhile, the Bantay Gloria Network supported yesterday the decision of the House to impeach Corona.
Former Akbayan Rep. Risa Hontiveros, one of the founders of the group, said the chief justice should now resign to spare the high court from further embarrassment.
“Chief Justice Corona was asked by the people, at the very least, to inhibit from the cases involving GMA. But because Corona has already decided to serve Mrs. Arroyo in the most obsequious manner instead of upholding justice, the people have no choice but to make him accountable as well,” she said.
Another pro-administration group that rallied behind Corona’s impeachment is the Black and White Movement.
The movement’s spokesperson, Leah Navarro, said the Supreme Court has destabilized itself the moment the chief justice accepted his “midnight” appointment in the dying days of the Arroyo administration.
“The minute Corona became a midnight chief justice, the Supreme Court’s independence was already undermined. That was the original sin, a transgression that spawned this crisis,” she said.
“As such, the impeachment complaint against Corona is not an institutional attack on the Supreme Court. Rather, this is an attack on Arroyo’s legacy of impunity,” Navarro said.