Constitutional Shortcuts in impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona

Posted by Maribojoc Bohol on January 21st, 2012 in Local News

Vice President Jejomar Binay warned on Friday against resorting to constitutional shortcuts in the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona.

Speaking before the Foreign Correspondents’ Association of the Philippines, Binay said the aborted impeachment of President Joseph Estrada and the subsequent administration of President Gloria Arroyo made the country realized that the shortcut of going to the streets was a “ruinous mistake.”

“If there is anything we could learn from that first impeachment trial, it is that we should not repeat any of its mistakes,” he said.

“It was wrong to have allowed enraged public opinion, rather than due process and the rule of law, to take control of the constitutional process, and to have allowed the impeachment trial to be aborted because of pressure from the streets. The fact that former president Estrada today appears to enjoy wider public support than former president Arroyo is further confirmation of that painful mistake,” Binay said.

“Thus, unless we see a serious breach in the proceedings, our common task is to lend to the Senate trial our attentive and respectful silence,” he advised.

He also related how the trial was not completed because the prosecution wanted to admit evidence volunteered by outside parties without a court subpoena and which was intended to prove a charge which majority of the senator-judges deemed was not in the original articles of impeachment.

“When the impeachment court refused to admit the “evidence,” the prosecutors walked out, and the issue was finally decided against Estrada by the fiercely anti-Estrada crowd at Edsa,” he said.

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