After the “brave” move of the defense panel to present the accuse Chief Justice Renato Corona in his impeachment trial provided that the court will summon and ask several people to take the witness stand before him, they are now facing a dilemma they deemed not coming.
In today’s hearing former SC Justice and current Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales took the witness stand and it seemed the defense’s supposedly bombshell of presenting her eventually exploded in front of their face. In the direct examination being handled by another former SC Justice Serafin Cuevas, Carpio-Morales detailed the 82 dollar accounts under the name of the Chief Justice. During the course of her testimony she presented documents taken from the report of AMLC detailing the million dollar accounts of Corona which are not disclosed in his SALN. Cuevas in his line of questioning tried to discredit the Ombudsman, but he was unsuccessful and seemed not prepared for the answers being given by Carpio-Morales. There is also one instance when the presiding justice himself helped Cuevas to initiate question that qualified the lady Ombudsman as a hostile witness.
The trial also showed how the 2 former justices trade legal arguments to the point of arguing with each other. There are several times that they’ve bordered into discussing legal opinions as to the acquisition of the AMLC report which caught the impatience of some senator judges especially the presiding judge.
Another notable moment in today’s trial is the issue on the powerpoint presentation of the the Ombudsman’s findings. Cuevas was all-out in opposing it’s presentation pointing on its relevance forgetting their camp is the one who summoned the Ombudsman to testify on the alleged 10 million dollar. Because of this opposition, several senators stood up to allow its presentation including Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago who even got applauded by the gallery because of her approval. At the presiding judge Senator Juan Ponce Enrile put it to a vote to which all senators voted in favor of the Power Point presentation.
The trial ended at about 6:30 PM and will resume tomorrow at 2pm for the continuation of Carpio-Morales cross examination.
Corona’s Reaction
Meanwhile, after hearing the testimonies of the Ombudsman, Chief Justice immediately reacted saying her testimonies are hoax and malicious. In his statement he said “The initial testimony of the Honorable Ombudsman is quite unfortunate, if not very malicious. I don’t know how she came up with her own mathematical equation.”
He also said that they will debunk all those malicious figures and it proven wrong, he urges the Ombudsman to quite her post.
Related articles
- Hostile witness Ombudsman drops bombshell on Corona (newsinfo.inquirer.net)
- Battle of retired justices: Cuevas vs Carpio-Morales (newsinfo.inquirer.net)
- Dean Laviña : It’s the moment of Truth (rappler.com)
- Day 37: Corona, may 82 dollar accounts -AMLC report (dzmm.abs-cbnnews.com)
