The Philippine Online Chronicles

Yesterday was the second day of the much awaited Impeachment Trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona.

The country waited in baited breath as the people listened to their radios and watched the TV to see what evidence the prosecution had against the Chief Justice. Since the weeks leading up to the proceedings had filed the pages of newspapers and the airtime of news programs with a number of scandalous allegations, it was time for the people to see what the fuss was about.

With eight articles of impeachment to tackle, everyone was ready to hear the testimony of the witnesses that the prosecution has been saying they have lined up. We all waited to hear something as titillating as the revelations made in the Erap impeachment trial.

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One comes before two

However, things have proven to be anti climactic as the prosecution said that it was not ready to present testimony to support the first article of impeachment. Instead, it would like to go ahead and present a case on the second article of impeachment.

Huh?

Needless to say, this caught everyone by surprise. As a matter of logic, it would make sense that the first article of impeachment would be tackled first, followed by the second and so forth.

When Senator Chiz Escudero was interviewed by ANC after the proceedings, he jokingly said that everyone who knows how to count knows that one comes before two.

The first article of impeachment

The first article of impeachment in the Corona trial pertains to the betrayal of public trust. It was expected that the prosecution would bring forth witnesses to corroborate the claim that Chief Justice Corona showed a bias in favor of the person who appointed him, then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

Second article of impeachment

The second article of impeachment pertains to the attention grabbing headlines of the chief justice allegedly having 45 pieces of property that are undeclared as part of his assets and liabilities.

The prosecution wanted to start with the more exciting and headline grabbing portion of the trial. Rep. Barzaga Elpidio, Jr. himself said that it is because of the high interest of the public regarding this particular section of the impeachment case that they wanted to begin with this area.

Also, since the prosecution didn’t have everything ready to present its case on the first article, they decided to work with what they had. It is, after all, the prerogative of the prosecution which article of impeachment to tackle first, as claimed by Senator Judge Jinggoy Estrada.

It left the jurors unprepared

The Senator jurors had prepared for the proceedings expecting to hear arguments and testimony on the first article of impeachment.

Although there is no law against sequencing, it does make sense to give your jurors the heads up what to expect. This allows the senator jurors to come to the proceedings prepared and briefed. Also, the defense team should be made aware beforehand so they too can be prepared. This is why Senator Joker Arroyo asked the prosecution to inform the senator judges on the sequence that they will handle the articles of impeachment.

This in theory should facilitate the trial since a background study has already been prepared. This is to make the senators more efficient and taxpayers wouldn’t have to waste time having to listen to stupid questions with answers that could have easily been studied beforehand.

After all the grandstanding and all the sensational allegations by the prosecution against the Chief Justice, it seems like when it was their time to be on center stage, they were not prepared.

How disappointing! It’s like going to the first day of school having prepared for the wrong chapter in the book.

On the bright side, the sessions ended much earlier than expected. Since there is no time limit to how long these session trials can last, the senator jurors probably issued a collective sigh of relief knowing that at least the day finished early because the prosecution was ill prepared.

Senate President Enrile had no choice but to adjourn for the day and resume the following day.

Bad first impression

However, if the prosecution was ill prepared with its evidence and testimony on the first day of trial, this certainly sets a bad first impression. It certainly sets a negative tone to the trial. The defense team lawyers certainly looked pleased with the turn of events.

Cavite Representative and Prosecutor Elpidio Barzaga Jr. said that the prosecution needed more time to prepare their evidence and witnesses.

Perhaps their time would have been better spent actually procuring the evidence and prepping the witnesses instead of going on a media blitz before the trial. This way, they would have at least someone to put on the stand when their moment arrived.

Seems like in this day and age, computer generated documents aren’t sufficient. Given the gravity of the accusation, it makes sense to have someone actually authenticate and verify the documents, following Rules on Electronic Evidence. If the prosecution doesn’t come up with someone who can testify on the records, these may become inadmissible.

If the prosecution wants to have things all wrapped up by March as they claim it would be, then they need to get their act together and start presenting some credible witnesses and not waste our time. Otherwise, this will certainly look like a baseless witch hunt.

Subpoenas not granted

As an added blow, the subpoenas for the family of Corona, including his wife and for the Chief Justice himself were denied. The clerk of Court Senate Secretary Emma Lirio Reyes read the decision to uphold the spousal privilege and the parental and filial privilege of Justice Corona.

It would be unconstitutional to force a wife to testify against his spouse and for children to testify against their father. It would also be unconstitutional to force the accused to testify against himself.

At least the way the proceedings are going, looks like the Senators did their homework and are trying to stay as close to the constitution as possible. No one wants to impugn on the basic human, legal and constitutional rights of the Chief Justice, even if he is the one on trial.

In the meantime, we will wait as the next chapter or article unfolds….

Screencap from GMAnews youtube video. Some rights reserved.