MANILA — Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, presiding officer for the impeachment trial of Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona, on Tuesday afternoon adjourned early due to the prosecution's lack of preparation to present witnesses and evidence.
"Since the prosecution is not prepared to present evidence, the Senate motu propio suspends trial until 2 p. m. on Wednesday," said Enrile.
This was after Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr., one of the prosecutors, admitted that he wants the trial postponed so that they could further prepare their pieces of evidence.
He said the prosecution is currently in possession of "computer-generated" but certified true copies of land titles of Corona’s assets.
Enrile, however, questioned the type of documentary evidence that will be presented by the House prosecutors.
He warned the House prosecution that the Senate, sitting as the impeachment court, will have to rule on the admissibility of the documents in due time.
Enrile noted the documents must be authenticated by witnesses in the trial.
He also asked the House prosecution to decide the order of presentation of the eight articles of impeachment against the chief justice.
During the hearing, Barzaga told the Senate court that it is not ready to present evidence on the first Article of Impeachment accusing Corona of betraying public trust by showing bias for former president and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Instead, he asked the court if House prosecutors could present evidence on the second Article of Impeachment, which accuses the chief magistrate of betrayal of public trust and/or culpable violation of the Constitution for failing to disclose his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN).
Barzaga said that due to high public interest in Corona's assets, the prosecution deemed it best to present evidence on Article 2 before the Article 1 of Impeachment.
Lawyer Serafin Cuevas, counsel of the defense, questioned the arrangement of the prosecution in presenting the Articles of Impeachment.
He, however, maintained that the defense panel is prepared to cross-examine all Articles of Impeachment.
But, Sen. Joker Arroyo, who is one of the prosecutors in the impeachment trial of former President Joseph Estrada, said that as a former prosecutor, he understands the dilemma faced by the House impeachment team.
"We cannot limit the presentation of Articles on the part of the prosecution," he said. "Sometimes, we have witnesses. Sometimes, we don't have. That is what happened in the Estrada impeachment."
To solve this problem, Arroyo said, "we request prosecution to rearrange the prosecution's evidence so it will help everyone so we know what to study beforehand. So if you can rearrange, it will be for the good of all," he said.
Even Senator-Judge Jinggoy Estrada said that the House prosecution team has the right to choose what Article of Impeachment to tackle first.
He, however, said that prosecutors should inform the defense and the Senate first.
Barzaga agreed to the proposal and said the prosecutors will submit a new calendar of presentation on the eight Articles of Impeachment.
Meanwhile, Corona's defense team considered the second day of impeachment trial a small battle won.
Lawyer Tranquil Salvador III said today's trial is an initial victory.
However, he said "these (are just) small battles, and there’s a war. We are happy with the advances we made."
On the other hand, Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Teddy Casino said he is not worried on the performance of the House prosecution team in today's impeachment trial.
"As a complainant in the impeachment complaint, I am not at all worried about the prosecution team's performance today. Any problems, if ever, were not fatal and are mere birth pains, as it were. I know for a fact that the team was prepared to present evidence today for marking and for authentication by the witnesses tomorrow. I'm sure they will get better as the hearings go on," he said. (PNA)
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