Manila: A senator on Saturday pushed for the speedy impeachment of Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona so as not to hamper normal conduct of the affairs of the state.

Senator Ralph Recto, in a statement, said the Senate, acting as an impeachment court trying Corona should conduct the trial fast so that the country could focus on getting back on track its economic life.

Since the House moved in early December to impeach Corona, much of the country’s state of affairs had been on a virtual standstill as Filipinos, as well as President Benigno Aquino III, the prime mover of the impeachment move, is fixated on the impending trial that is expected to get on track this Monday.

Corona is being tried by the Senate for charges of betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of constitution, graft and corruption and alleged failure to disclose his statement of assets, among others.

Over the past few months, Philippine political developments had been largely confined to exchanges of accusations between Aquino and his political defenders and the besieged Corona.

Corona is believed to be close to former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who herself is busy fending off charges and accusations of impropriety left and right.
The former president is detained at a government hospital while awaiting trial on the charge of electoral sabotage.


Swift trial

“The impeachment trial has to be swift so that it won’t drag down the economy,” Recto said.

Recto said the soonest the Senate could dispose of the Corona case, the soonest the country could move forward to face more challenges “with the world ablaze with unfamiliar changes.”

Recto said the people are looking for immediate relief after being battered by economic storms like increases in fuel oil prices, increasing cost of living and not to mention the natural-made calamities wreaked by strong typhoons.

“We cannot afford to use all our energies in the impeachment while most of us feel that they were not economically better off compared to the previous year. There is still that culprit called poverty that needs to be impeached,” he said.
Recto said regardless if Corona “is a candidate for conviction or acquittal, he deserves a speedy trial.”

The Senate is due to buckle down to work as an impeachment court on Monday after convening for the first time in December last year.

The Senate has adopted a number of measures to ensure the orderly conduct and media coverage of the impeachment trial of Corona starting Monday, Jan. 16.
Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile has instructed Senate Secretary Emma-Lirio Reyes to see to it that measures are adopted to ensure that the media coverage would not get in the way of the conduct of an orderly, open and transparent impeachment trial.

Standing as prosecutors will be Representatives Niel Tupas, Neri Colmenares and six other members of the Lower Chamber.

Corona will be defended by a battery of lawyers led by Jose Roy III, Jacinto Jimenez, German Lichauco II, Dennis Manalo and Karen Jimeno.

The impeachment trial of the head of the Supreme Court will be a first for the country.