Even with the looming impeachment trial of Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona, the House of Representatives is not losing grip on an impeachment complaint against SC Associate Justice
Mariano del Castillo over his alleged plagiarism of a controversial court decision, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said on Monday.
Belmonte, who represents the 4th District of Quezon City (Metro Manila), noted that the members of the 11-man prosecution team from their ranks are capable of doing multiple tasks.
The team is composed of only 10 at present: Niel Tupas Jr. of Iloilo, Deputy Speaker Erin Tañada of Quezon, Rodolfo Fariñas of Ilocos Norte, Elpidio Barzaga Jr. of Cavite, Reynaldo Umali of Mindoro Oriental, Giorgidi Aggabao of Isabela, Deputy Speaker Raul Daza of Northern Samar, Joseph Emilio Abaya of Cavite, Neri Colmenares of Bayan Muna party-list and Arlene Bag-ao of Akbayan party-list
They are still short of one prosecutor, who is expected to be named during the holiday break.
Deputy Majority Leader Miro Quimbo of Marikina City (Metro Manila) would serve as the panel’s spokesman.
“The justice committee will have to work very hard. We will have to deal with those two problems but I’m sure they will manage,” Belmonte told reporters.
All of the abovementioned lawmakers are members of the House justice panel — the same one that found the impeachment rap against del Castillo sufficient in form and substance.
As a result, the justice panel would then have to find out if the impeachment complaint against the SC associate justice is sufficient in grounds.
If there is probable case, the complaint goes to the plenary for voting.
Del Castillo is accused of plagiarizing his ruling that dismissed a petition for certiorari filed by the members of Malaya Lolas or Filipino “comfort women.”
Corona is accused of betrayal of public trust for refusal to disclose his statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN); failure to subject the Judiciary Development Fund to audit; grant of the High Tribunal of a temporary restraining order (TRO) on a watch list order against former President Gloria Arroyo and her husband Jose Miguel Arroyo; and flip-flopping decisions of the High Tribunal in the case of 16 cities as well as the status of Dinagat Island, among other impeachable offenses.
There are only three session days left for the House to resolve the del Castillo case.
Fariñas, a prosecutor in the Corona impeachment trial, earlier said that the House might not have the capacity to prosecute two impeachment cases at the same time.
The House sent the eight Articles of Impeachment the against Corona to the Senate last week — a complaint which was signed by a whopping majority of 188 lawmakers.
Warning from lawyers
Saying that grounds for the impeachment of Corona were improper, Roan Libarios, the president of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) also on Monday said that the Chief Justice should not resign.
“The grounds referred to decisions not of Corona but collegial decisions of the Supreme Court and even the issue on the [SALN] and non-accounting of Judiciary Development Fund...involved collegial decisions of the Supreme Court as a branch of government,” Libarios pointed out during an interview with ANC’s Headstart.
He said that Corona did not write any of the High Tribunal decisions where the Chief Justice allegedly showed partiality toward Mrs. Arroyo.
The IBP president said that Corona was not the one who issued the order the TRO tgat blocked the watchlist order against the former president.
“He opted to turn over the issue to the entire en banc. It became a collective decision of the Supreme Court [to issue the TRO]. It would have been a different story if Chief Justice Corona had exercised his personal prerogative to issue a TRO,” he added.
Libarios said that the allegation against Corona’s wife, who was appointed to the board of directors of John Hay Management Corp. (JHMC), is also flimsy, adding that the Chief Justice was appointed to the High Tribunal in 2002 while his wife was appointed in May 2001.
The Judicial and Bar Council also tackled the issue of Mrs. Corona’s appointment to JHMC.
When Corona was appointed Chief Justice, his wife relinquished her position in the government-owned and –controlled corporation.
According to Libarios, it is also wrong to say that Corona was a midnight appointee because it was the JBC that shortlisted possible appointees to the top position of the High Tribunal caused by the retirement of Chief Justice Reynato Puno.
A lawyer also on Monday asked the High Tribunal to bar the Senate from hearing the impeachment complaint against Corona.
With Reports From Jomar Canlas, Neil A. Alcober and Sammy Martin
