MANILA, Philippines -- Congressmen came in full force to the Senate on Monday to show their support for the prosecution team in the continuation of the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona.
Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said that about 40 members of the House of Representatives will watch the trial.
Belmonte said that this was only the second time since the trial began that he requested for a contingent that is more than the usual number of lawmakers who come to the Senate every day. At most, about 15 House members attend the trial from Monday to Thursday.
Bayan Muna partylist Representative Teddy Casino, who was in the gallery, said that lawmakers who attend the trial are considered present in the session.
Belmonte also announced that trimming down the articles of impeachment from eight to three is “pretty firm.”
“But we cannot box ourselves in at this stage,” he added.
The House leader earlier said the prosecution team is considering focusing on its three strongest charges to make the trial more manageable and to be able to finish the trial by March this year.
Article 2 deals with Corona’s “failure to disclose to the public his statements of assets and liabilities and net worth as required under Section 17, Artcle XI of the 1987 Constitution.”
Article 3 is about his “failure to meet and observe the stringent standards under the Constitution that provided that a member of the judiciary must be a person of proven competence, integrity, probity, and independence in allowing the Supreme Court to act on mere letters filed by a counsel which caused the issuance of flip-flopping decisions in final and executory cases; in creating an excessive entanglement with Mrs. (Gloria) Arroyo through her appointment of his wife to office; and in discussing with litigants cases pending in the Supreme Court.”
Article 7 is on the chief magistrate’s “partiality in granting a temporary restraining order in favor of Arroyo and her husband Jose Miguel Arroyo in order to give them an opportunity to escape prosecution and to frustrate the ends of justice, and in distorting the Supreme Court decision on the effectivity of the TRO in view of a clear failure to comply with the conditions of the Supreme Court’s own TRO.”
Belmonte confirmed Casino's statement and said that they are planning an open-and-suspend session for Monday.
source: interaksyon.com
