Prosecutor Congressman Rodolfo Fariñas finally admitted at the impeachment trial of Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona that the 188 Congressmen who signed the impeachment complaint may not have read and understood the articles of impeachment properly. According to him, he did not sign the impeachment complaint because he was a slow reader compared to the rest and that the articles of impeachment were badly written:
“Mabagal kasi akong bumasa eh, kaya nung prinisenta sa’min ‘yan … nung nakapirma na ‘yung panghuli — maraming speed reader kasi diyan eh — dahil sobra-sobra ang pumirma na, 188, ‘di na kailangan ang pirma ko at masama pagkagawa ng complaint (I read slowly and when the complaint was presented to us … when the last one had signed — there are many speed readers there — because so many had already signed, 188, my signature was no longer needed and the complaint was badly done),” Fariñas said.
If a bar topnotcher and a seasoned politician like Fariñas could not go over the documents in just a few hours, what more some of the Congressmen and women who do not even have a law degree? The allegations that the majority of the 188 members who signed the impeachment case were “clueless†of the eight articles and were only “blackmailed†into signing the complaint which were used as the basis to try and kick out Corona have now been confirmed as true during the trial itself and by the deputy lead prosecutor himself no less.
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We recall how some Congressmen who did not sign the complaint spoke out in disgust at the speed with which the 57 page document were signed by the majority in less than an hour. This was what Navotas City Representative Tobias Tiangco had to say previously:
“How can you vote for the impeachment without having the chance to read the articles of impeachment much less verify the facts?…Why the haste in the matter of hours? Why cannot we give him due process?â€
After Tiangco, other minority representatives had spoken out about the dubious impeachment process conducted by PNoy’s supporters…
Some lawmakers have said the process of signing up for the impeachment of Chief Justice Renato Corona was indeed rushed but proponents of the ouster move maintained it was all above board.
Bayan Muna Representative Teodoro Casiño said the majority of the 188 members who signed the impeachment case were clueless of the eight articles used as the basis to kick out Corona when they entered the majority caucus at 2:30 pm Monday.
Casiño admitted that they were not allowed to read the 57-page document, which they signed on as both complainant and endorser. The signing of the document by 188 congressmen paved the way for the approval of the complaint without having to toil through committee hearing or plenary voting.
The bulk of the signatures took less than one hour to gather and Corona was formally impeached at 7:40 p.m. Monday or less than five hours after the signatories were officially told for the first time about the charges versus the Chief Justice.
Casiño said the lawmakers relied solely on the presentation made by Liberal Party (LP) bigwigs who orchestrated the impeachment case under orders of President Benigno Aquino III.
It was House Minority Leader Edcel Lagman who said that many of those who supported the impeachment were blackmailed into signing. Lagman insinuated that, “Those who would refuse to sign will be deprived of their priority development assistance fund (PDAF) and other funding releases for their respective districts.â€
The question now is, what can be done about Fariñas’s revelation? Even before the trial began, many Filipinos already thought that the articles of impeachment have very little, or no basis at all. However, despite the blatant railroading of the impeachment complaint against Chief Justice Corona, the trial still proceeded. Unfortunately, just as most had predicted, the trial is beginning to look like a train wreck unfolding due to the prosecutors’ total disregard for the rule of law.
The prosecution’s latest gaffe was when they attached copies of Corona’s bank statements to the evidence presented on Day 12 without the approval of the Senate court. Prosecutor Rey Umali was forced to admit that an anonymous “small lady†handed the copies of the bank statement to him on his way out of the building. Hopefully an investigation will be conducted to find out who that mysterious lady is because she just broke the bank secrecy law.
Some people are even suggesting that the prosecutors should be disbarred for using an illegal document. The knowledge that bank employees do not hold the country’s bank secrecy law sacred can prove too costly by scaring potential investors away. We can say goodbye to the thought of becoming another Switzerland. The latter is known for having what they call Swiss banking law, which strictly limits the amount of information that could be shared with third parties.
The Senator judges’ seem unable to do much but apply “liberality†in dispensation of the court rules for fear of reprisals from the people behind this impeachment complaint. Only Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago seemed to be using her head when she filed a motion asking the Senate to reconsider its decision. Good on the lady Senator for giving everyone in the court an opportunity to think about the implications of forcing banking institutions to participate in what appears to be nothing more than a witch hunt.
Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile didn’t seem to find Prosecutor Fariñas funny but judging from the laughter reverberating in the courtroom when he kept talking non-stop, it looks like the prosecution has finally found a prosecutor who can distract the rest of the Senators and the gullible public into believing that the articles of impeachment against Chief Justice Corona is valid. It would not be a surprise if he gets the vote because most Filipinos love someone who can grandstand before the cameras.
Prosecutor Fariñas did manage to bully his way into the proceedings by airing his opinions as if he was providing the closing remarks. He also tried to appeal to people’s emotion by reiterating that Corona dipped his fingers into public funds — despite a ruling already in place that that part of Article 2 to do with “ill-gotten wealth” is no longer an allegation to be considered. He might as well have said, never mind the details of the case, we believe that the Chief Justice is guilty.
Well, I sincerely hope that people can see through his style. By not signing the impeachment complaint, it is obvious that Fariñas’ decision to act as a prosecutor is quite suspect.
[Photo courtesy Interaksyon.com.]
In life, things are not always what they seem.
One of them admitted that the complaint was badly written and yet they still want to go on with the show.. They are really desperate to fish for evidence against CJ. This mockery of the justice system should not continue anymore.
I just wish something or someone could make the witch-hunt stop. It is destroying our institutions, our so-called democracy and our economy.
All the evil examples are destroying our culture and society.
Behold the desolating hand of power and fear it for it cares not for moderation, justice, order of law, compassion and humility.
the prosecution found someone, in farinas, who can charm the public’s attention and divert the prosecution’s poor performance in the impeachment case… they are so desperate even to arm themselves with a battalion of private lawyers!!
I think that is only a temporary fix. Their true nature had already been unmasked by the bumbling antics of topak. It is far too late for them to recover from that screw up
a very nice article Miss Ilda. I hope a lot of people would still see thru the prosecutions shock and awe ( questionable on this part) tactics. Seeing the noytard comments on twitter especially those created for PROPAGANDA just to give praise to the prosecution and Pnoy is sickening. Easy for them to label their enemies as pro-GMA, they refuse to see that some of us are just for Due Process and not for anyone else.
Thanks, Koi.
We can only hope that the Senator judges will not tolerate Farinas’s tactics. He wasted a lot of time yesterday just blabbing on and on.
well he got admonished today by the senator judges so i guess its something good. i have been following you on twitter btw madamme. keep on writing for the truth and more power.
Oh, ok. Thanks. I can’t stop sending messages about the prosecution’s incompetence. 🙂
The magnitude of my “like” for Senator Defensor has just gone a notch higher while my “like” for the Pnoy went down even further.
The prosecutors are so lost that their only recourse is to keep on dipping their clumsy hands into the forbidden cookie jar inasmuch as they no longer have any strong case to push their fight further.
And yet, our gullible brothers and sisters still believe in Pnoy’s mask of purity, thinking that all his actions are free of political interests, and thus keep on swallowing every little impulsive idea his little mind conceives. Impulsive in that he blurts it out and acts on it without the benefit of ‘thinking it through’.
Unfortunately, the rest of the Senators overruled Santiago. But they are now having some problems getting the bank executive to divulge the information they want because of the law on foreign deposits. It’s a shame they didn’t think about it before agreeing to the subpoena.
hindsight. Nahawa kay Pnoy. Buti nga.
the small lady is an imaginary product of a dirty mind of the prosecution… how can u get something from someone who you don’t know and instantly forget but makes a sensational issue out of it, don’t buy it… the senate was caught dumb founded by umali’s explanation, the prosecution lied twice now
Actually, I am more surprised that the Senators just gave them a slap on the wrist. The prosecutors should not let them get away with something this major.
I say enough of accepting evidences from anonymous text messages or small ladies. It’s from this unsubstantiated claims that the country gets screwed. De Lima acted solely on the basis of an anonymous text message that claimed GMA was trying to seek refuge from the Dominican Republic and look where that brought us?!?
ilda, is it true that the small lady umali was talking about is raissa robles? heard it from the grapevine that that’s what has been discovered from cctv recordings?
Oh really? I hope mahuli nga nila.
yes it’s true. she was the girl friday of justice carpio and at the same time moonlighting as journalist.accd’g to the news,one employee of ps bank provided the documents.
It’s not true and you are giving life to rumors. See Raissa Robles’s blog where she investigated who started the rumors in the first place.
the prosecution is generally adopting an approach that if someone is guilty (in their minds) due process and legal technicalities and integrity do not matter.
they shame themselves, their profession and the country.
no wonder people abroad see the philippines as jungle monkeys. the impeachment proves it.
average country i.q – 86, and it shows.
I hope the difficulty they have been experiencing since Day One of the trial will teach them not to file impeachment complaints without thinking things through.
What difficulty? So far, the prosecution has proven:
#1. While CJ Corona filed his SALN with the clerk of court, he never disclosed this to the public and has voted against disclosing it in every request for said SALN filed with the Supreme Court
#2. Corona’s SALNs has missing information especially on the acquired cost column of the properties which in itself is a violation of the law
#3. Corona’s SALN did not show all of his properties and declared some properties inaccurately (which the defense admits)
#4. Corona’s stated cash in his SALN was exceedingly below his actual ending balances in his bank accounts
Those are the facts as shown by the documents obtained.
According to Quimbo, the documents about CJ’s bank accounts were myteriously found in their office. Umali claims it was handed to him by a myterious small lady.
So, which version are we to believe now?
From a tactical point of view one could say that Tupas tried to breach the defense wall by a full frontal-assault. Now that tactic has cost the prosecution, so they will try to go under the wall by mining under it. Farinas “showmanship” is very good cover to make the gullible think that he has a point in his presentation.
It may sound like that I respect the prosecution’s distracting abilities in this endeavor, but if there’s one thing I have learned that to respect an enemy is not the same as approving or liking their actions. Simply put such thinking allows you to see thru an enemy’s action enabling one to guard and watch against such actions especially if such actions are insidious.
Too right. That’s what I learned in blogging as well. I actually get inspiration for some of my articles from those who disagree with me. Which is proof that I actually take note of what they are saying.
Your first paragraph made me laugh. 🙂
If you ask me they should have tried subtlety first before brute force. Think of the impeachment process as a form of warfare and in warfare according to Sun Tzu is based on deception. Unfortunately for the prosecution they have squandered the element of surprise and raised alarms to the nature of their actions.
But then again they didn’t have the brains and common sense. Farinas needs to be careful with their new tactic, some objective senators(Enrile) and some of the public (discerning ones and the ones who sees this whole process in a whole new light)will lose patience with him and trip the prosecution’s progress(if any).
Also Farinas’s showmanship is time consuming and some of the public wants this whole thing to be over with. Dragging out a battle much more a war is exhausting and has long-term effects.
a flaw spot on the prosecution team, he spit his saliva upward then it splattered on his face 🙂 hahaha! looks cute and ridiculous., hihihi..more blunders please. continue to wash your dirty laundry in public.hahaha! it stinks!
It’s a next applicant time!
Farinas he he he he…
What an AH!
I’ve just read some op-eds in unInquirer today issue.
Saguisag became unhinged. Ulyanin yata.
He has sold his soul to the devil!
Saguisag said it was unethical for CJ Corona to accept pro-bono services from abogados de campanilla. What is Saguisag’s moral ascendacy to lecture us on ethics?
Saguisag has become a faggot…
Saguisag can now be labelled as abogado de patola…
No hindsight. No foresight.
You attacked the messenger instead of the message, which is a classic fallback of people who cannot argue well.
Please explain why it is ethical for a Supreme Court Chief Justice to accept the services of lawyers for FREE when government officials should not be receiving gifts and services of a substantial amount.
That’s the bottom line. Even if the message came from the lowest of the low, the argument still stands. Please refute it to the best of your ability.
@For Rent Philippines
If these people view this as an attack against the judiciary, then I think it is an legitimate option. Technically, it can be viewed as such when the judiciary is the interpreter of the law and the executive wants to make new “rules” to the game which the interpreter viewed as unconstitutional.
So the executive tried to “put the interpreter in its place” by chastising and attacking their head. It may or may not be true, but still, one can argue that this is already an attack on the institution and some may view that they need to act to protect the institution they uphold/protect.
/facepalm
Seriously? SERIOUSLY?!
So, most of the Congressmen who voted the impeachment, did not read the impeachment complaint? What made them not read it? This is the question…
Fast reading reason is nonsense…you impeach a Supreme Court Justice, and you are Clueless abouy it…
The impeachment complaint should had been thrown out in the Senate…because of this reason…
Now, the economy is going down…some needed works in the Senate and Congress are not attended to…because of this impeachment…
Somebody must stop this stupidity, that we are doing…
I read the impeachment complaint in minutes. If it took the congressmen several hours to read the complain, then they should be faulted for reading too slowly.
Try reading the entire complaint and time your selves. Let’s see if you can stretch it to several hours.
@For Rent Philippines
Reading and comprehension are completely two different things. You can breeze through something, but that doesn’t mean you understood it. Even if you understood it, you should know what the documents need, which are evidence.
Second, the complaint must not be vague. After reading and understanding the complaint, you should have a few questions already that pop to your mind, like how 2.4 is linked to 2.0 etc etc etc.
I hope that was clear.
During the term of Farinas, as Governor of Ilocos Norte. His Vice Governor was Lt. Col. Abadilla. My Uncle used to be a classmate of Abadilla at the PMA. Abadilla told people: that Governor Farinas, made the Ilocos Norte Capitol, as his Workplace and his Residence…He has room and board inside the Capitol Building. Farinas seemed to be exhibiting a Psychiatric Illness called: Paranoia…thinking he is the President of Republic of Ilocos Norte. Same
as the way Noynoy Aquino, chased after Honorary
Doctorate Degrees, from foreign universities..Abadilla was assasinated by unknown people, some years ago…His murder remains unsolved…we don’t know who ordered his killing..
So we have two Wackos, trying to impeach a Supreme Court Justice. And get their Halucinations and Delusions for themselves…how good can you get?
Reading your blog, I conclude that you are a biased pro-Corona apologist. You only seem to write stuff when it puts the other side at a bad light.
I don’t see an explanation from your end of Mr. Corona’s proven ending balances in his bank accounts which are way above his declared cash position in his SALN.
In the SALN which CJ Corona signed, it says:
“I hereby certify to the best of my knowledge and information, that these are true statements of my assets, liabilities, net worth, business interests and financial connections, including those of my spouse and unmarried children below 18 years of age and names of my relatives in government services as of December 31, 2010, as required and in accordance with Republic Act 6713.”
Clearly, CJ Corona committed perjury. The documents speak for themselves.
As for the bank secrecy laws… you spoke of Switzerland and its bank secrecy laws. Do you know the provisions of their bank secrecy laws? Under Swiss laws, the bank account info is secret except when requested by a Swiss judge’s subpoena in cases of severe criminal acts.
I hope you publish this.
@For Rent Philippines
For discussion sake, well, can we at least discuss how we determine SALN of statement of cash.
If you already issued a dated check which will debited from said account, would the contents of the account at year end still need to be declared although the checks were already issued and not yet encashed? You may have the cash at hand, but technically it is meant to pay off a debt/liability, so how should we treat that? The defense has not yet presented its case so we do not know if this was the case, but for arguments sake, how do we consider that situation.
Same goes for the savings account. At this day and age, a check may be linked already to a savings account and not need a separate checking account. Therefore, the same situation may apply.
What if also, the remittances/money transfers from sources overseas are deposited into the savings account? How do we go about considering that as well? Didn’t Corona’s daughter stay abroad and presumably worked there to earn? You may ask why didn’t she just open her own account. Well instances may arise that she is asking her parents to pay off her purchases like the condo, as such the situation can be that the checks then are issued by her parents, instead of needing an SPA from her authorizing her parents to have and/or power on her account. I mean, you trust your parents most of the time so why not just direct the money through them.
If these were the case, what then would we have?
Also, as clearly stated by the prosecutor, perjury is not a high crime. And as stated with the law on SALN, correction may be made once the reviewing body finds inaccuracies/inconsistencies. This is in direct conflict with the statement of the person of Ms. Kim Henares.
I don’t owe to anybody, anything. I stand for what is right…to give rightful, and truthful information. Check it yourself, my information.
Hacienda Luisita is the root cause of the Corona impeachment. The Cojuangco and Aquino families, are trying to make the Philippines, another Republic of Tarlac…this is not right…what they’ve done to those Haciendas Luisita farmers and laborers were not right…I see wrong…and I’m just trying to right them…this is my purpose… I’m not a Corona apologist…I’m on my own…