Lira Dalangin-Fernandez, Abigail Kwok, Karl John C. Reyes and Joseph Holandes Ubalde
InterAksyon.com
MANILA, Philippines - (UPDATE 3 - 3:23 p.m.) The Senate, sitting as the impeachment court, will vote on a verdict of acquittal or conviction on Tuesday, May 29 at the latest, with or without the cross examination of Chief Justice Renato Corona.
At the resumption of the trial on Wednesday, Day 41, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile gave the defense until Friday, May 25, to wrap up their case even as Corona remains confined at the Medical City hospital in Pasig City. Enrile also said Corona's three-hour opening statement last Tuesday would be deemed part of the defense submission.
This was after Corona’s lead counsel, retired Justice Serafin Cuevas, said Corona might be able to attend the trial on Monday but could not categorically guarantee this.
Cuevas also voiced their intention to conduct a direct examination on Corona.
Lead prosecutor Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas Jr. said they may waive the right to cross-examine Corona.
Senate approves Corona’s plea for 48 hours' rest
Senate President Enrile, sitting as the presiding officer of the impeachment court, approved the petition of Corona through his counsel, for a 48-hour medical rest. He has been confined at the Medical City since Tuesday night.
The court, after consulting all parties, reckoned the final schedule of the trial as it leads up to the final vote either on Monday or Tuesday the 29th at the latest, nearly five months after it began.
“This court will give you until Friday, to submit your (defense) all your evidence, and after that we consider the case submitted, and on Monday we will hear your oral arguments, and decide on the matter, or on the [next] day,” Enrile said.
Earlier, former associate justice Serafin Cuevas, the chief defense counsel, asked the impeachment court to excuse Corona from attending the scheduled oral arguments Wednesday because the chief magistrate is not physically and mentally able to stand on the trial.
Cuevas said that as instructed by the court, he visited Corona in the hospital, but was unable to talk to him.
“Nevertheless, we talked to Mrs. (Cristina) Corona, his daughter Carla, and his son Francis, from there, most especially from Mr. Corona, I got the assurance that Corona is willing to come back for the cross examination; however, the stumbling block is his physical and mental condition,” Cuevas said.
He promised to submit the full report on his client’s medical condition.
With this, Enrile ordered the defense team to submit to the impeachment court all their evidence on Friday, and if not, the court will consider the case submitted.
Enrile also ruled that each party will be given one hour for the oral arguments and two lawyers to make a final presentation. Final arguments are scheduled on Monday and the Senate will vote on its verdict the day after.
“If the medical bulletin is true [Corona went to Medical City hospital right after walking out on Tuesday night, and was moved to the ICU for monitoring of a possible heart attack], he is now asking again for a 48-hour excuse which falls on Friday; effectively he is asking [for time] until Monday because there would be no sessions on Saturday and Sunday. [On Monday he could be] subjected to a cross examination,” Sen. Edgardo Angara explained earlier, emerging from a senators’ caucus.
After such cross-examination, Angara said, the impeachment court will hear the summation of both the defense and the prosecution, and they will vote on Tuesday evening.
Prosecutors on Wednesday said they can either make a motion to strike out the opening statement of Corona or waive their right to cross-examine him to allow the senator-judges to conclude the proceedings and make a final vote by next week.
Earlier, before the 41st trial session began, Iloilo Representative Niel Tupas Jr., the head of the prosecution team, said both options are being seriously considered, as they await the formal motion of Corona’s lawyers before the court this afternoon.
He affirmed this tack later in open court.
“We will leave it to the discretion of the impeachment tribunal, but time is of the essence. We expect to complete trial by next week,” Tupas said.
For his part, Angara told reporters separately, “Our original deadline is on Tuesday, our voting day. We should meet our deadline which was agreed on and approved in a previous caucus.”
Earlier Tuesday night, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, presiding officer of the court, warned ex-Justice Serafin Cuevas that if the chief justice refuses to return, Corona’s opening statement will be junked and the case deemed for submission. “It has no weight, it will have no probative value,” Angara said on Wednesday morning, by way of explaining what happens to Corona's 3-hour "monologue," as it was described in some quarters.
When trial resumed on Day 41, however, Enrile appeared to have softened and said the opening statement will simply be deemed part of the defense submission, with or without Corona's returning to court for a direct examination and cross.
Enrile called a caucus before the trial began, to forge a consensus on the Senate’s course of action in light of what happened Tuesday, particularly the medical bulletin issued by Medical City doctors.
“We will have a caucus. We have no control on the perceived or actual health condition of the chief justice, so we have to discuss it in a caucus. Unfortunately, malakas naman siya kahapon [he was strong yesterday], and tinanggap naman ng presiding officer ang paliwanag ng defense [and the presiding officer accepted the explanation of the defense], so we will decide on the matter,” Sen. Gregorio Honasan said.
“Ngayon dapat ang pagkakataon na maipakita natin kung anong klaseng tao tayo, sa bahagi ni Chief Justice, sa bahagi ng prosecution, o senator-judges, kaya nga sinabi ni Senate President, wala naman bastusan [Now is the chance to show what kind of people we are, on the part of the Chief Justice, on the part of the prosecution, or the senator-judges, which is why the Senate President said there should be no disrespect], which was approved by the whole Court without objection,” Honasan said.
Prosecution can wait
Also on Wednesday, prosecutors said before trial began that they can either file a motion to strike out the opening statement of Chief Justice Renato Corona or waive their right to cross-examine him to allow the senator-judges to conclude the proceedings and make a final vote by next week.
Iloilo Rep. Tupas Jr., the head of the prosecution team, said both options are being seriously considered, as they await the formal motion of Corona’s lawyers before the court this afternoon.
“We will leave it to the discretion of the impeachment tribunal, but time is of the essence. We expect to complete trial by next week,” Tupas said.
Corona was not allowed by his doctors to attend Wednesday’s hearing, describing him as a “high risk” patient, who needs to be treated for possible heart attack. The chief magistrate walked out of the session hall Tuesday, even without having been discharged by the court. His lawyers said later he felt dizzy because of hypoglycemia.
InterAksyon.com
MANILA, Philippines - (UPDATE 3 - 3:23 p.m.) The Senate, sitting as the impeachment court, will vote on a verdict of acquittal or conviction on Tuesday, May 29 at the latest, with or without the cross examination of Chief Justice Renato Corona.
At the resumption of the trial on Wednesday, Day 41, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile gave the defense until Friday, May 25, to wrap up their case even as Corona remains confined at the Medical City hospital in Pasig City. Enrile also said Corona's three-hour opening statement last Tuesday would be deemed part of the defense submission.
This was after Corona’s lead counsel, retired Justice Serafin Cuevas, said Corona might be able to attend the trial on Monday but could not categorically guarantee this.
Cuevas also voiced their intention to conduct a direct examination on Corona.
Lead prosecutor Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas Jr. said they may waive the right to cross-examine Corona.
Senate approves Corona’s plea for 48 hours' rest
Senate President Enrile, sitting as the presiding officer of the impeachment court, approved the petition of Corona through his counsel, for a 48-hour medical rest. He has been confined at the Medical City since Tuesday night.
The court, after consulting all parties, reckoned the final schedule of the trial as it leads up to the final vote either on Monday or Tuesday the 29th at the latest, nearly five months after it began.
“This court will give you until Friday, to submit your (defense) all your evidence, and after that we consider the case submitted, and on Monday we will hear your oral arguments, and decide on the matter, or on the [next] day,” Enrile said.
Earlier, former associate justice Serafin Cuevas, the chief defense counsel, asked the impeachment court to excuse Corona from attending the scheduled oral arguments Wednesday because the chief magistrate is not physically and mentally able to stand on the trial.
Cuevas said that as instructed by the court, he visited Corona in the hospital, but was unable to talk to him.
“Nevertheless, we talked to Mrs. (Cristina) Corona, his daughter Carla, and his son Francis, from there, most especially from Mr. Corona, I got the assurance that Corona is willing to come back for the cross examination; however, the stumbling block is his physical and mental condition,” Cuevas said.
He promised to submit the full report on his client’s medical condition.
With this, Enrile ordered the defense team to submit to the impeachment court all their evidence on Friday, and if not, the court will consider the case submitted.
Enrile also ruled that each party will be given one hour for the oral arguments and two lawyers to make a final presentation. Final arguments are scheduled on Monday and the Senate will vote on its verdict the day after.
“If the medical bulletin is true [Corona went to Medical City hospital right after walking out on Tuesday night, and was moved to the ICU for monitoring of a possible heart attack], he is now asking again for a 48-hour excuse which falls on Friday; effectively he is asking [for time] until Monday because there would be no sessions on Saturday and Sunday. [On Monday he could be] subjected to a cross examination,” Sen. Edgardo Angara explained earlier, emerging from a senators’ caucus.
After such cross-examination, Angara said, the impeachment court will hear the summation of both the defense and the prosecution, and they will vote on Tuesday evening.
Prosecutors on Wednesday said they can either make a motion to strike out the opening statement of Corona or waive their right to cross-examine him to allow the senator-judges to conclude the proceedings and make a final vote by next week.
Earlier, before the 41st trial session began, Iloilo Representative Niel Tupas Jr., the head of the prosecution team, said both options are being seriously considered, as they await the formal motion of Corona’s lawyers before the court this afternoon.
He affirmed this tack later in open court.
“We will leave it to the discretion of the impeachment tribunal, but time is of the essence. We expect to complete trial by next week,” Tupas said.
For his part, Angara told reporters separately, “Our original deadline is on Tuesday, our voting day. We should meet our deadline which was agreed on and approved in a previous caucus.”
Earlier Tuesday night, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, presiding officer of the court, warned ex-Justice Serafin Cuevas that if the chief justice refuses to return, Corona’s opening statement will be junked and the case deemed for submission. “It has no weight, it will have no probative value,” Angara said on Wednesday morning, by way of explaining what happens to Corona's 3-hour "monologue," as it was described in some quarters.
When trial resumed on Day 41, however, Enrile appeared to have softened and said the opening statement will simply be deemed part of the defense submission, with or without Corona's returning to court for a direct examination and cross.
Enrile called a caucus before the trial began, to forge a consensus on the Senate’s course of action in light of what happened Tuesday, particularly the medical bulletin issued by Medical City doctors.
“We will have a caucus. We have no control on the perceived or actual health condition of the chief justice, so we have to discuss it in a caucus. Unfortunately, malakas naman siya kahapon [he was strong yesterday], and tinanggap naman ng presiding officer ang paliwanag ng defense [and the presiding officer accepted the explanation of the defense], so we will decide on the matter,” Sen. Gregorio Honasan said.
“Ngayon dapat ang pagkakataon na maipakita natin kung anong klaseng tao tayo, sa bahagi ni Chief Justice, sa bahagi ng prosecution, o senator-judges, kaya nga sinabi ni Senate President, wala naman bastusan [Now is the chance to show what kind of people we are, on the part of the Chief Justice, on the part of the prosecution, or the senator-judges, which is why the Senate President said there should be no disrespect], which was approved by the whole Court without objection,” Honasan said.
Prosecution can wait
Also on Wednesday, prosecutors said before trial began that they can either file a motion to strike out the opening statement of Chief Justice Renato Corona or waive their right to cross-examine him to allow the senator-judges to conclude the proceedings and make a final vote by next week.
Iloilo Rep. Tupas Jr., the head of the prosecution team, said both options are being seriously considered, as they await the formal motion of Corona’s lawyers before the court this afternoon.
“We will leave it to the discretion of the impeachment tribunal, but time is of the essence. We expect to complete trial by next week,” Tupas said.
Corona was not allowed by his doctors to attend Wednesday’s hearing, describing him as a “high risk” patient, who needs to be treated for possible heart attack. The chief magistrate walked out of the session hall Tuesday, even without having been discharged by the court. His lawyers said later he felt dizzy because of hypoglycemia.
