Tiangco willing to testify for defense

MANILA, Philippines - Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco will be among the first witnesses that the defense lawyers of Chief Justice Renato Corona will present when the impeachment trial resumes on Monday.

The defense also said there is a strong possibility that the Chief Justice will appear before the court, but that it won’t be next week.

Defense lawyer Ramon Esguerra confirmed that Tiangco has agreed to testify next week, but refused to discuss details.

Tiangco’s testimony is expected to help the defense establish the alleged defectiveness of the verified complaint and the manner it was signed by 188 congressmen before it was subsequently transmitted to the Senate.

On Monday, the defense lawyers said they will start debunking the integrity of the complaint, the way it was crafted, and the speedy transmittal of the verified complaint to the Senate.

They will also present evidence and witnesses to support their assertion that the complaint was “defective” and therefore should be dismissed.

Prior to the presentation of their defense, Corona’s lawyers said they would want to hear the decision of the impeachment body on their pending motions, including their petition to dismiss the five articles dropped by the prosecution and the objection to present bank records as evidence.

Defense: Basa-Guidote irrelevant

The defense camp also revealed that the relatives of Cristina Corona – Ana Basa and Sister Flory – cannot testify in the impeachment trial because they are not relevant to the complaint.

Basa-Guidote Enterprises, a family corporation, was mentioned in Article 2 of the impeachment complaint but only in relation to the Chief Justice’s statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALNs).

Corona listed the firm as the source of an P11-million cash advance in 2004, which was subsequently paid in the next years until 2010.

Defense spokespersons Karen Jimeno, Rico Paolo Quicho and Tranquil Salvador III said Corona has lamented that even family members are now being dragged into the controversy.

“They say they have a strong case. Why are they saying now that they want to present a statement they read in a newspaper which is not in affidavit form?” Quicho said in Filipino.

He told the prosecution panel to “relax” and wait for them to finish presenting their evidence “then see if they need to present a rebuttal.”

“Give us the chance first to lay down our evidence, don’t preempt us,” Quicho added.

Jimeno, for her part, said that the statements of the Basa relatives, who are against Mrs. Corona, are actually irrelevant in the complaint.

The defense camp cried foul yesterday over the prosecution’s effort to paint Corona as a villain in the eye of the public.

They rebuffed the prosecution for attacking them over the Chief Justice’s recent media interview and TV appearances.

Quicho said that while he respects the opinion of prosecution spokesmen, the defense is appealing to Corona’s critics to give him a chance to answer all the accusations hurled against him.

“Corona is not even discussing the merits of the case,” he said, adding that the Chief Justice’s critics should also respect his right to freedom of expression.

Morality not an issue

On the issue that Sister Flory is being used to sway public opinion against Corona’s morality and fitness as chief justice, Quicho said the morality angle is hard to defend.

“Do we have to argue this on morality? In the first place, we cannot legislate morality. What is wrong to a person may be right to another. If the prosecution team feels that based on the statements of Ana Basa and Sister Flory that the Chief Justice is not moral, what is their basis? It’s really hard to argue based on morality,” Quicho said.

He said some people are jumping to conclusions that Corona is not morally fit to be chief justice because of the statements of Sister Flory.

Quicho admitted the defense is in a dilemma on how to address the issue since it has been brought before the bar of public opinion.