Manila: An attempt by beleaguered chief justice Renato Corona to forestall an impeachment bid was rejected by the senate yesterday.
The 23-member nationally-elected senate, sitting as an impeachment court, rejected the request by Corona's lawyers — headed by former supreme court associate justice Serafin Cuevas — to delay the impeachment trial and hold preliminary hearings instead.
"There is no more need for the preliminary hearing to receive evidence in this matter. The senate should proceed, for that's the mandate given to us by the constitution," senate president Juan Ponce Enrile said as the request by Cuevas was rejected "for lack of merit".
Earlier in the proceedings, Cuevas had questioned the validity of the 188 votes in support of the impeachment move in the House of Representatives.
The House in early December set in motion the impeachment of Corona on the basis of several allegations that include statute violations, betrayal of public trust, graft and corruption, among others.
Defence of mandate
During the proceedings yesterday, the House prosecuting team reiterated that it possesses the necessary mandate to convene the impeachment session.
"It is very clear that it is verified by 188 members of the House. It went through the plenary and was approved by the plenary," said representative Niel Tupas, chief of the 11-man prosecuting team from the House of Representatives.
The House has a total membership of 285 and only one-third of all members is needed to convene an impeachment session.
The impeachment court is expected to convene once more today to admit evidence against Corona.
Corona's impeachment has been largely regarded as a proxy conflict that pits President Benigno Aquino on one side and Corona on the other. Corona had been appointed by former president Gloria Arroyo.
Aquino had been at odds with the supreme court after it resisted attempts by him to use his overwhelming popularity to push through executive acts with questionable legality.
Earlier, urban poor group Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay or Union of Urban Poor) described the impeachment move against Corona as just a ‘political gesture' that had nothing to do with checks and balances that would boost democracy.
Kadamay secretary-general Gloria Arellano in a statement accused the Aquino administration of using congressional development funds to pursue the case against Corona.
