Day One: Senate sweeps aside obstacles, signals intent for efficient and fair impeachment trial
by Abigail Kwok, Karl John C. Reyes and Joseph H. Ubalde, InterAksyon.com
January 16, 2012

 MANILA, Philippines – Day One of the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato C. Corona ended less than two hours after it started, as the Senate, convened as the impeachment court, set aside pending motions and signaled its intent to proceed with the historic trial.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile swiftly dismissed the most contentious issue – Corona’s plea for a preliminary hearing to prove the impeachment complaint defective. With the Chief Justice and his wife, Cristina, in the gallery, Corona’s lawyers argued that the articles of impeachment were railroaded at the House of Representatives and were not properly verified. After giving each party five minutes to defend or debunk the proposition, Enrile sided with the prosecution panel in its argument that the Senate’s duty is to try impeachment complaints, and not to determine the soundness of the same. That part of the process, Enrile agreed, lay with the House of Representatives, which had already transmitted the impeachment complaint to the upper House of Congress.

That in itself signaled that the first impeachment trial of a Chief Justice of the Philippines would proceed on what is expected to be a gripping weeks-long chapter in Philippine politics. Enrile later denied twin motions to cite in contempt prosecutors of Chief Justice Corona for prematurely disclosing material evidence outside the impeachment court even before trial started Monday.

Read full article @ interaksyon.com