Corona's defense team may take action vs some senator-judges

MANILA, Philippines - The lawyers of Chief Justice Renato Corona in the Senate impeachment trial hinted yesterday that the defense team might be forced to take action against some senator-judges who may be lawyering for the prosecution panel.

Karen Jimeno, a member of the defense panel of Corona and one of the spokespersons for the group, said they notice that some of the senator-judges are doing the work of the prosecution panel.

She was not alone in making that observation as many who have been following the trial have noticed the senators saving the day for the prosecution, including day three when the congressmen almost lost the battle to secure the statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) of Corona from Supreme Court clerk of court Enriqueta Vidal.

It was only after Sen. Franklin Drilon stood up and asked Vidal if she had the SALN with her that the Senate got the copy of the documents.

“So if the questioning (by the senators) becomes a move to cover for the shortcomings of the prosecution, that now gives an impression of their not being impartial,” Jimeno told radio dzBB.

She said that some concerns are already being raised among the defense lawyers because this could have an impact on the final verdict against Corona.

“We hope that this does not continue where we would have judges that are working with the prosecution,” Jimeno said.

Jimeno said the defense panel is studying the possibility of filing a motion to inhibit against some senators if ever the situation continues.

She explained that this is one of the remedies available to lawyers under the Rules of Court, which the rules of the Senate on the impeachment trial state would apply whenever applicable.

“One of the remedies of the Rules of Court is you can file a motion to inhibit. That is something that we are studying if this would be necessary,” Jimeno said.

“We are studying if there are senator-judges that are partial and we are studying if we will avail of this remedy,” she added.

She said the defense panel is treating each vote of the senator as important and so it would be very unfair to their client if any one of these senator-judges has already judged the case before all of the facts have been presented.

“It is important that we ensure that the senator-judges will be impartial,” she said.

Under the rules of the Senate, the senators shall observe political neutrality during the course of the impeachment trial.

Both Drilon and Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile have denied that there are senator-judges lawyering for the prosecution.

Drilon explained that his actions after the prosecution ended its arguments were all allowed under the rules and were meant to seek clarifications to the issues at hand.

Citing the case of Vidal, Drilon said that he merely wanted to find out if she complied with the subpoena issued by the Senate, which required her to bring the SALNs of Corona from 2002 to 2011.