Corona travel records to be presented at impeach trial

Sunday, January 29, 2012

MANILA -- The prosecution panel in the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona will present witnesses from the Immigration bureau and Philippine Airlines to try to prove that he and his wife were given treatment by the airline while it had a case pending at the Supreme Court.

Among the allegations in Article III of the impeachment complaint against Corona is his "lack of ethical principles and his disdain for fairness which has eroded the faith of the people in the Judiciary." The prosecution has cited the court's turnaround on the Flight Attendants and Stewards Association of the Philippines (FASAP) v. Philippine Airlines, Inc. case, where a judgment in favor of the employees' union was overturned "on a mere letter from Philippine Airlines' counsel Attorney Estelito Mendoza."

The prosecution intends to present unnamed Bureau of Immigrations representative and another from Philippine Airlines to attest to the travel records of Corona and his wife. It also plans to present testimony from "an employee of the Supreme Court who handles the official travels of the magistrates to testify on the chief justice's trips via PAL and the type of airline tickets he purchased."

In a press statement, the panel said most of these trips were booked through Prestige Travel Agency, which they said is owned by Mendoza's family.

On Friday, the panel submitted to the Senate a list of more than 80 witnesses it plans to call to prove the eight articles of impeachment against Corona. Prosecutors have spent the past two weeks of the trial marking and presenting evidence to prove Article II, which accuses Corona of failing to disclose his net worth. They said Corona has properties that were not declared on his Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth. They have also said he could not have afforded to buy properties in Quezon City, Taguig, and Marikina on his reported income.

Corona's lawyers plan to present the same SALNs as evidence to disprove the allegation. (Jonathan de Santos/Sunnex)