A ruling of the Senate impeachment court to bar testimony of a Philippine Airlines (PAL) official only proves that the verified Articles of Impeachment lodged against Chief Justice Renato Corona are defective, the defense panel said on Wednesday.
Ramon Esguerra, one of the defense lawyers, maintained that the impeachment complaint is full of holes.

“The position on the matter validated that there’s something really wrong with the Articles of Impeachment,” Esguerra said, adding that the prosecution was having a difficult time proving their case because of the defective complaint.

“The problem that was observed early on was the crafting of the Articles of Impeachment that haunts them to this day. The problem hasn’t been with the Senate, much less with respondent,” he said.

The defense lawyer welcomed the plan by the House of Representatives to refile the impeachment complaint next year if the Senate decided to dismiss the complaint.

“That will give us a break of a few months’ time to rejuvenate, enjoy the world, go play golf, enjoy the morning dew in the fairways,” Esguerra said.
Less charges

After the major setback it suffered on Tuesday, the House panel on Wednesday dropped two of their accusations in Article III and ended their presentation of evidence.

Article III alleges that Corona committed “culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayed the public trust by failing to meet and observe the stringent standards under Article VIII, Section 7 (3) of the Constitution that provides that a member of the judiciary must be a person of proven competence, integrity, probity and independence.”

Some of the allegations under Article III included the Supreme Court’s flip-flopping decisions, creating an excessive entanglement with former President and now Rep. Gloria Arroyo of Pampanga province through her appointment of Corona’s wife Cristina to office and discussing with litigants cases pending before the High Tribunal.

House prosecutor Giorgidi Aggabao told the open court that the prosecution would be dropping allegations, particularly “in creating an excessive entanglement with Mrs. Arroyo through her appointment of his (Corona’s) wife to office; in discussing with litigants regarding cases pending before the Supreme Court;” and the use of public funds for personal use.

The prosecution earlier presented for Article III Flight Attendants’ and Stewards’ Association of the Philippines (Fasap) President Bob Anduiza, who testified on the alleged flip-flopping of the High Court in its decision concerning their case.