An exasperated Senator Manuel “Lito” Lapid unexpectedly took the floor for the first time in the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona yesterday with just one question.
Was the P11 million that Corona and wife Cristina purportedly took from Basa-Guidote Enterprises Inc. a loan or a cash advance?
By asking this, Lapid inadvertently made a prosecutor admit he was out to prove that the Coronas possessed “unexplained wealth,” a charge whose presentation the Senate acting as tribunal had decided it could not allow because it was not included in Article 2 of the impeachment complaint.
Lapid’s question was not even addressed to the witness, Director Benito Cataran of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Looking impatient, Lapid told Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile that he wanted the prosecution to explain why it had been grilling Cataran for more than an hour on whether the Basa-Guidote continued to exist.
Cataran testified that the company, supposedly owned by the family of Cristina Corona, had been inactive since 1991.
Read more about the Philippines Current Events
No comments:
Post a Comment