MikeLigalig.com

KIM TAN and ANDREO CALONZO, GMA News January 16, 2012 3:11pm

 
(Updated 7:10 p.m.) The House prosecution team was off to a good start Monday in the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona when the Senate, sitting as an impeachment court, junked two pleadings favoring the chief justice, including a bid for a preliminary hearing that would have delayed the trial proper.

The Senate also denied a motion filed by lawyer Fernando Perito, who is not from the defense team, asking the impeachment court to cite the members of the prosecution team for indirect contempt for presenting at a press conference the deed of sale of Corona's condominium unit at The Bellagio in Taguig — an evidence in the case.

At the start of the historic trial on Monday, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile denied Corona's motion for a preliminary hearing "for lack of merit." 

Defense lawyers said although they were "unhappy" with the decision, they were really anticipating it.

“We are unhappy with the decision of the impeachment court but we are satisfied that they listened to our arguments,” Jose Roy III said in an interview after the day's trial. "We all hope and expect that we be given a fair opportunity to defend Chief Justice Renato Corona as the prosecution might misuse information to poison public perception."

For his part, Tranquil Salvador III, another defense lawyer, said: “Inaasahan na namin ito. Kaya nga handa na kaming magkaroon ng opening statement.”

In his Answer to the Articles of Impeachment, Corona had sought the outright dismissal of the complaint, citing constitutional infirmities and bias against him. He then filed a separate motion asking for a preliminary hearing to declare the impeachment complaint against him "defective."

In junking the motion, the Senate gave weight to the House prosecution team’s position, argued by lead prosecutor Niel Tupas Jr., that the impeachment process was done in accordance with its rules.
 
“It is very clear that it is verified by 188 members of the House. It went through the plenary and was approved by the plenary,” Tupas told the impeachment court.
 
Tupas presented a copy of the House journal showing that the 188 signatures in the impeachment complaint were verified by House secretary-general Marilyn Baura-Yap.

Meanwhile, Enrile said he denied Perito's petition because the latter does not have legal "standing" in the impeachment court.

"He is neither a lawyer for the defense or lawyer for a participant in this proceeding," the Senate leader said.

The Senate just "noted" Corona's motion to take the appropriate action against the prosecution team regarding the presentation of the evidence.

Section XVIII of Senate Resolution 39, which contains rules on the impeachment trial, prohibits prosecutors, senator-judges, the person impeached, their counsel and witnesses from “making any comments and disclosures in public pertaining to the merits of a pending impeachment trial.”



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Meet Corona's defense team  
(The Philippine Star) Updated January 16, 2012 12:00 AM


1. Justice Serafin Cuevas

Now 83 years old, he served as associate justice of the Supreme Court during the Marcos regime from June 1984 to April 1986. Prior to his appointment to the SC, he was a justice in the Court of Appeals, judge in the Court of First Instance, and fiscal in Manila.

A product of the University of the Philippines College of Law, he had four decades of teaching experience not only in the same institution but in other universities as well.

He was also one of the lead defense counsels of deposed President Joseph Estrada during his impeachment trial in 2000.



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5. Dean Jose Roy III

He was former dean of the College of Law and president of the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila. He is another product of the Ateneo Law School.

6. Joel Bodegon

He is managing partner of Bodegon Estorninos Guerzon Borje & Gozos Law Offices. He was also partner in Angara Abello Concepcion Regala & Cruz

Law Offices from 1982 to 1986. He finished his Bachelor of Laws from the University of the Philippines in 1974 and was admitted to the

Philippine Bar in 1975, before joining the Office of the Solicitor General as trial attorney.

7. German Lichauco II

He is from topnotch Siguion-Reyna Montecillo & Ongsiako Law Offices and described as “an intra-corporate dispute litigator whose expertise includes hostile corporate takeover and control.” He had also handled “a wide array of cases that include heinous crimes, medical malpractice, construction and commercial arbitration, personal injuries and business tort or contractual controversies.”

8. Dean Tranquil Salvador III

A partner at top law firm Romulo Mabanta Buenaventura Sayoc & De Los Angeles, he was former Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Pasay law school dean and UP law professor.



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