Corona camp accuses Palace of bribe try

Sunday, February 12, 2012

MANILA -- Chief Justice Renato Corona’s defense lawyers charged Malacanang with interfering in the impeachment trial by allegedly offering senators P100-million bribe in exchange for disregarding a Supreme Court (SC) injunction on disclosing Corona’s dollar accounts.

In a press conference Sunday, lawyer Dennis Manalo said that according to an unnamed source, Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. had been urging senator-judges to disregard the temporary restraining order that the SC issued Thursday to keep Philippine Savings Bank (PSBank) from disclosing details of Corona's dollar accounts there.

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The defense panel repeatedly refused to name its source, but lawyer Jose Roy III said the anonymous source is "very reliable."

Lawyer Ramon Esguerra later said "reliable or not, we believe (this is true)."

Manalo said with Malacanang's alleged meddling and urging to disregard an order from the SC, "our democracy is in danger."

"We condemn in the strongest terms the efforts of the President to undermine the constitutional process that he himself initiated," Manalo said on behalf of Corona's legal team.

Roy said senators had been offered P100 million each to disregard the TRO.

The money will come from savings and can be used for soft projects, he said.

"Soft" projects are part of the Priority Development Assistance Fund, or pork barrel, allocated to members of Congress. Senators are entitled to P100 million a year for "soft" projects and another P100 million for "hard" projects.

According to the Department of Budget and Management, soft projects include "scholarship programs, medical assistance to indigent patients, livelihood support programs, the purchase of IT equipment, rural electrification, water supply, peace and order and financial assistance to local government units."

Gimmick

However, Ochoa, in a press statement, denied the "unsubstantiated, unattributed allegations" and played them down as a gimmick.

"Citing rumors to prove baseless accusations to support their cause goes against the principles of decent and ethical lawyering," he said.

The Palace was also quick to react to the allegations, calling the supposed expose a diversionary tactic by the defense.

"The honorable members of the Senate have shown that they are more than capable of making the decisions necessary to ensure that the Chief Justice receives a fair and impartial trial. The Chief Justice’s lawyers, as they have shown in their Press Conference tonight, believe otherwise," he added.

He said as a lawyer, he respects the right of the lawyers of Corona to protect the interests of the Chief Justice.

Squid tactics

Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda also defended Ochoa, calling the allegations "squid tactics."

"In contrast to the clarity and consistency of the President’s advocacy for accountability, transparency, and reform, the defense panel of the Chief Justice prefers squid tactics. Their conspiracy theories concerning the Executive Secretary is a diversionary tactic to distract attention from the evidence coming to light in the impeachment trial," he said.

Lacierda said there has been a lot of "loose talk" and "malicious speculation" going around in the past days and the public should be careful in what to believe in.

"It is incumbent on people who should know better not to fall for every conspiracy theory whispered to you… We believe neither the Senate nor the Filipino people will fall for such a brazen strategy," he noted.

"We can only surmise that the defense has run out of ways to conceal the culpability of its client, and has engineered this move as a last-ditch effort to confuse the proceedings and prevent a resolution," he added.

The Palace official also cited the move of the Catholic Education Association of the Philippines (CEAP) Sunday morning calling on Corona to disclose his dollar accounts questioning his resistance when he asserts his innocence on the anomalies thrown against him.

"The only danger in the disclosure of the Chief Justice’s assets is the Chief Justice’s defense: the integrity of the banking system, our system of laws, the cause of justice and good governance are not endangered by the proceedings of the impeachment court," said Lacierda.

"The case has been joined. The parties cannot walk away from the constitutionally ordained procedure to resolve this case. Stop running, and stop hiding. Face your accusers, and let justice be done," he ended.

Another lie in a web of lies

Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, from whose office disbursements are authorized and made, said the alleged bribe try was "another lie in a web of lies being woven by the Corona camp to discredit the impeachment process."

"Such baseless allegations are irresponsible and can only erode the credibility of the defense lawyers. Their energies and time are better spent preparing for tomorrow's continuing hearings on the hidden but now exposed dollar and peso accounts of Corona in PSBank and BPI, which have been admitted as true not just by the bank officers and even by Corona himself," he said.

Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada, for his part, said he received no calls from Ochoa. He said he had been monitoring the press conference and that the defense's supposed expose was a surprise. He said the statements made by Corona's lawyers affect the credibility of the Senate.

"If we decide to deny (the TRO), what will the people say? That we were paid off?" he said, adding he might bring up the allegations when the Senate meets in a caucus on Monday.

Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, for his part, made a categorical denial, adding the defense press conference was headline management. He added he does not expect the public to believe the defense's statements.

Pure rubbish

Senator Panfilo Lacson, who is identified as friendly to Malacanang, also dismissed the bribe offer as "pure rubbish and nothing more." Lacson foregoes his PDAF allocation every year.

"It is unfair and even contemptuous to preempt the senators who have yet to discuss the matter in a caucus tomorrow," he said.

Senator Francis Pangilinan told Sun.Star in a text message that the allegations are already "old hat."

"In my 11 years in the Senate, I hear that repeatedly whether for Charter Change or for key pieces of legislation," he said.

He said the public should not believe accusations and allegations from unnamed sources and not backed up by evidence.

Blackmail

The House prosecution panel, meanwhile, called the press conference an attempt to strong arm the Senate.

"Respondent Chief Justice is trying to demonize the Executive, and blackmail the Senate to vote in their favor as part of their mind-conditioning strategy," Iloilo Representative Niel Tupas Jr., lead prosecutor, said in a text message.

Marikina Representative Romero Quimbo, prosecution spokesman, meanwhile, said the defense had tried to take the Senate hostage with the alleged bribe try.

"Using rumors and hearsay evidence, which, ironically, they had been opposing regularly throughout the hearing, counsels for the Chief Justice practically put a gun on the Senators judges to scare them," he said. (Jonathan de Santos/Jill Beltran/Sunnex)