Senate impeachment tribunal ‘not a puppet of SC’

Saturday, February 11, 2012

THE Senate sitting as an impeachment court should not allow itself to be a “puppet” of the Supreme Court (SC), Malacanang said Saturday.

Senator-judges will be holding a caucus before Monday’s impeachment trial to discuss the temporary restraining order (TRO) issued by the SC on the subpoena of documents pertaining to PSBank accounts of Chief Justice Renato Corona. The SC voted 8-5-2 in favor of PSBank’s petition.

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“What will happen to the Senate impeachment court if the SC will question all its decisions? Will it end up as the puppet of the Supreme Court if all its actions can be questioned before the SC? What then is the use of the provision under the Constitution that the Senate will be the sole trier of impeachment cases?” presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said in an interview over government-run dzRB radio.

Lacierda, a lawyer, stressed that under the Constitution, the Senate is a co-equal branch of the Executive and Judiciary branches of government in so far as legislative duties are concerned.

In cases of impeachment, however, the Constitution grants the Senate sitting as an impeachment tribunal the exclusive jurisdiction to convict impeachable officers, he said.

The Palace also disagrees with the position taken by former Ateneo de Manila law school dean Father Joaquin Bernas.

Bernas believes that the High Tribunal, as the final interpreter of the laws, has to power to settle legal issues surrounding the impeachment trial of the Chief Justice.

“We disagree with him. When it comes to the Senate sitting as an impeachment court, the Supreme Court cannot impose its superiority on it,” Lacierda said.

If the Senate decides to defy the SC, PSBank president Pascual Garcia III will be compelled to disclose the details of Corona’s supposed five dollar accounts in the impeachment trial.

Garcia earlier refused to disclose the said dollar accounts citing the Foreign Currency Deposit Act of the Philippines which prohibits banking officials to disclose information on foreign currency deposits except upon the written permission of the depositor.

Upon the questioning of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, however, Garcia admitted to the existence of the five dollar accounts allegedly owned by the Chief Justice.

Meanwhile, the presidential spokesperson said the peso accounts of Corona from PSBank and Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) alone already show a huge disparity compared to the cash declared in his 2010 statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN).

Lacierda said this was enough to show that Corona displayed lack of honesty in the simple filing of a truthful and accurate SALN.

Based on the testimonies of PSBank and BPI officials, Corona’s peso accounts had an ending balance of close to P32 million in December 2010. The amount was based on three accounts – two in PSBank and one in BPI. Corona only declared P3.5 million in his 2010 SALN.(Kathrina Alvarez/Sunnex)