Scandal at Renato Corona Impeachment
By Jelly F. Musico
Senate President and Impeachment Court Presiding Officer Juan Ponce Enrile said on Tuesday he assumed “full responsibility” for the issuance of a subpoena based on the prosecution’s request for supplemental documents on Chief Justice Renato Corona’s alleged dollar accounts which a bank official said were fake.
”This presiding officer assumes full responsibility for issuing a subpoena for Corona’s bank records and is ready to defend it before any court of law,” Enrile said after the impeachment court tackled the alleged fake documents attached to the prosecution’s request for subpoena.
It was Senator-Judge Gregorio Honasan who questioned whether or not the fake documents acquired through “unreasonable searches” can be used in the impeachment proceedings.
”I’m not asking for the correct answer. I’m just asking for answer so that I can incorporate this when we render our verdict,” Honasan said.
The prosecution insisted it never said the bank documents were authentic or genuine but “felt it warrants attention of this impeachment court.”
”The prosecution believes that it is its duty to submit the documents to this court as they may have bearing,” deputy lead prosecutor Rep. Rodolfo Farinas said.
”To show our good faith, we just revealed the numbers of the bank accounts. If we knew it was fake, we could have not included it,” Farinas added.