A “vaguely” written and formulated accusation that Chief Justice Renato Corona had amassed ill-gotten wealth put the Senate impeachment court in a “quandary” Tuesday on whether to admit the prosecution evidence.
Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, the presiding officer, noted that Article 2 of the impeachment complaint had been “expanded” by the prosecution from its original allegation that Corona committed culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayed the public trust by supposedly failing to disclose his statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALNs).
“We are at a quandary as to how to treat this article,” Enrile told Representative Niel Tupas Jr., the lead prosecutor.
The unresolved objection of the defense against evidence on alleged ill-gotten wealth embodied in Article 2 set off yet another exchange with the prosecution on the fifth day of the impeachment trial.
Defense counsels on Tuesday filed a motion seeking to prevent Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Jacinto-Henares from testifying in the impeachment court and producing the income tax returns (ITRs) of Corona and his family.
“The presentation of the ITRs and tax certificates of the Corona children should not be allowed for being without basis, irrelevant, and immaterial to these proceedings,” Corona’s lawyers said in a six-page motion.
“The testimony of Commissioner Henares on the ITRs and tax certificates of the Corona children, as well as the presentation thereof, are therefore irrelevant and immaterial to the issue of whether or not CJ Corona failed to disclose his SALN to the public,” they stressed.
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