SENATOR-JUDGES pre-empted a potential “showdown” with the Supreme Court when they took possession of the Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) of Chief Justice Renato Corona even after they were told that SC justices have yet to meet next week to decide whether to release the documents subpoenaed by the Impeachment Court.
According to House prosecutors, the SALN documents submitted to the Impeachment Court showed that Corona declared his total net worth at P13 million in 1992 when he first served as assistant executive secretary in the Ramos administration. It grew to P14.5 million in 2009 and jumped to P22.9 million in 2010.
The prosecutors said this only raised more questions for Corona as far his acquisition of expensive realty assets, including a P14-million penthouse condominium at the pricey Bellagio Towers, was concerned.
“In our complaint, we alleged that there’s ill-gotten wealth and it [SALN] would help prove that,” Rep. Sonny Angara said.
Appearing as a witness in Corona’s trial on Thursday, SC Clerk of Court Enriqueta Vidal asked senators to wait until Tuesday when SC justices meet en banc (full court) to take up her request for authorization to submit Corona’s SALN to the Impeachment Court.
Vidal told senator-judges that in view of the SC’s full-court resolution on May 2, 1989, she could not readily comply with the Senate subpoena.
She said while the SC resolution provides that all requests for copies of SALN of SC justices have to be filed with the clerk of court, this “only means it is filed with me but whether it will be given will depend on the Court, which will decide if the request is followed.”
This triggered brief debates as senators took turns opposing any further delay—after learning that Vidal brought the documents with her and was only asking for time to get the authorization from Corona and other justices before she turns over the documents to the senate.
Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada said Corona himself insisted he was “not hiding anything and that he has filed his SALN regularly” so he advised Vidal to “just follow the Senate subpoena and submit the documents to the Impeachment Court.”
Sen. Frank Drilon also moved to reject Vidal’s request to wait for the SC authorization, saying, “the witness already said she brought it.”
“If tomorrow the Supreme Court says no, then we will have a problem. But the witness already said that in compliance with the subpoena she brought it [Corona SALNs] with her,” Drilon said.
Senate Minority Leader Alan Cayetano said that what was served on Vidal was not a request but a subpoena; granting Vidal’s request to wait for SC authorization may “set a bad precedent,” he said.
Sen. Francis Escudero Escudero said the subpoena was addressed to the SC Clerk of Court and she has the documents with them so “she can comply and then explain to the SC justices that she was ordered [by the Impeachment Court] to do so.”
But Sen. Joker Arroyo said Vidal had pleaded for time to ask the permission of the SC. He said that “if the justices do not allow submission of the documents, we run risk of showdown between the SC and the Impeachment Court.”
“We are here to try Corona. We cannot have a problem of a clash between SC and Congress,” Arroyo said, noting that there is also pending case in the SC asking for a temporary restraining order to stop Corona’s trial at the Senate.
In ending the debate, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile told Vidal that the subpoena served on her to submit Corona’s SALN was not a request and proceeded to direct the SC clerk of court to turn over the documents, which were then marked as submitted evidence in Corona’s trial.
“We hope and expect that the SC, as a co-equal branch of government, will respect the process of this Impeachment Court,” Enrile said. As custodian of the SC records, Vidal is in possession of these records “so if she is called to produce them she must do so, Enrile said. “We must not be impeded by any agency of government in performing our duty.”
On Tuesday, Enrile granted the request of the House prosecutors to be given “flexibility” in presenting evidence at the trial. Over the objection of Corona’s defense lawyers, Enrile allowed the prosecutors to alter the sequence of presenting their evidence on the eight Articles of Impeachment filed by 188 congressmen against Corona.
Former Justice Serafin Cuevas, lead counsel of the defense panel, protested, saying that “any alteration will be a violation of the rights of the accused and [we see] that there is no reason why the order of presentation of evidence should now be changed.”
But Enrile appealed for the understanding of the prosecution and defense panels. “We cannot waste time arguing technicalities,” he said.
Meanwhile, it was learned that Corona authorized the release of his SALN even before SC Clerk of Court Vidal was compelled by the Senate Impeachment Court to it turn over.
At a press briefing, Court Administrator and Spokesman Jose Midas Marquez gave assurance that Corona would not take action against Vidal for submitting a copy of his SALN to the Impeachment Court.
But Marquez noted that the Court would still tackle next Tuesday whether there was violation of the Court’s resolution issued on May 2, 1989, which provides for rules for the release of SALNs of justices and judges.
He said the SALNs of justices and judges may be released to the requesting party as long as they are not used for fishing expeditions and harassment purposes.
“We would like to think that a subpoena issued by [an impeachment] court are not meant for fishing expedition or harassment purposes,” he added.
Vidal, according to Marquez, would be filing a manifestation explaining the circumstances behind her decision to release of Corona’s SALN.
“The chief justice has already authorized the release of his SALN. Just for the assurance of the clerk of court she has nothing to worry about as far as the chief justice is concerned,” Marquez said.
Marquez said Corona had earlier given his lawyers the go-signal to disclose his SALN before the Impeachment Court.
“The fact that the Chief Justice did not stop her [Vidal] from testifying and stopped her from bringing along his SALN, it means that the clerk of court has intention of complying with the subpoena,” Marquez said.
In Malacañang, officials reiterated their support for the prosecution team in the trial of Corona, saying they remained confident that the right men had been picked for the job.
Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda made the reiteration in a news briefing, when asked if President Aquino remains confident that the right men had been chosen to prosecute Corona.
When asked, Lacierda said that Malacañang Records head Marianito Dimaandal, a witness in the trial, would be told to produce the SALN of Corona when he worked in the Office of the President during the Ramos administration, and the Arroyo administration.
“He [Dimaandal] will be testifying and attesting to the SALNs of Mr. Corona,” Lacierda said.
Corona had served the Ramos administration starting as assistant executive secretary for legal affairs in 1992, then as deputy executive secretary 1994, and later as chief presidential counsel.
He worked for then-Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as chief of staff and spokesman, but returned to Malacañang as presidential chief of staff and spokesman, and later as acting executive secretary, during the Arroyo administration.
Lacierda said that the Corona’s “exit” SALN—the last he filed as a Palace official—would be compared with his SALNs when he became an associate justice of the Supreme Court.
(With M. Gonzalez)
In photo: Supreme Court Clerk of Court Enriqueta Esguerra-Vidal takes the witness stand on the third day of the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona. The first witness presented by the prosecution team, Vidal was asked to testify on the sworn Statements, Assets,Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) of the Chief Justice, and his alleged refusal to disclose details of the document. The allegation is contained in Article 2 of the eight Articles of Impeachment filed by 188 members of the House of Representative against Corona. (VOLTAIRE DOMINGO-NPPA / SENATE POOL)
