Palace pressurising me to quit, lawyer says

Manila: A lawyer allegedly representing the presidential palace asked a former justice of the Supreme Court to stop representing Chief Justice Renato Corona, who is being impeached at the Senate, a local paper said.

"I was told that the President wanted me out as a bargaining chip in the [kidnapping] case filed against [former National Bureau of Investigation chief Magtanggol] Gatdula," retired Supreme Court justice Serafin Cuevas told the Inquirer.

The unnamed lawyer claimed several times that the authorities "would no longer pursue it [the case filed against Gatdula] provided that I withdraw [from the impeachment case]," said Cuevas, 83.

Responding to the story, presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda told the Inquirer: "He owes it to the public to identify the person."