By Angie M. Rosales and Charlie V. Manalo
The Daily Tribune
The Daily Tribune
A staunch ally of President Aquino in the Senate has cautioned former Chief Justice Reynato Puno to think first of the actions being carried out by the Senate and the government on the controversial “pork barrel” before engaging in “politicking.”
Puno had earlier warned of chaos, including that of a possible military intervention, if the proposed people’s initiative to scrap Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) would fail.
“It’s unfortunate to hear about such statements, especially coming from a former chief justice. For me, this is a case already filed before the Ombudsman, (under investigation by the Senate) blue ribbon committee. The public is closely watching all the proceedings and developments, so there’s no basis for it,” Senate President Franklin Drilon yesterday said.
He noted that the former chief magistrate is engaging in “politicking.”
Drilon also continues to be defensive on the issue on the alleged payoff, saying that to this day, this remains an allegation that is yet to be proved by any evidence or documents.
Even Sen. Jinggoy Estrada who first broke out the issue on the P50 million distributed to some senators months after the Corona impeachment trial already said that the release of additional pork barrel funds did not influence him in rendering his verdict of conviction on the former chief justice, the Senate leader stressed.
“To me, all these talks of bribery are just rumors and there’s no single document that would show that it (the additional pork barrel) was a bribe,” he said.
The Senate chief also downplayed Puno’s reported statement Corona’s impeachment may be declared void if it would be proved that senators had been bribed with additional “pork barrel” in exchange of his conviction.
But Sen. Sergio Osmeña III, for his part, agreed with Puno’s assertion that the impeachment trial that had ousted Chief Justice Renato Corona could be voided if alleged Malacañang bribery to some lawmakers will be proved.
But Sen. Sergio Osmeña III, for his part, agreed with Puno’s assertion that the impeachment trial that had ousted Chief Justice Renato Corona could be voided if alleged Malacañang bribery to some lawmakers will be proved.
He, however, dismissed any possibility of Corona being “restored” to his former post since he himself, who sat as one of the senator-judges in the impeachment proceedings, denied any bribery.
“Yes, I think that is true. If there was intervention, if there was bribery, it can be declared void. I guess the Supreme Court will be the one to do that. But first prove it,” he told reporters in an interview.
It means, having some senators or at least one senator-judges, coming out and openly admitting being supposedly “bribed” to convict Corona, Osmeña stressed.
“As far as I know, there was no bribery. There was excess fund and they offered it to the senators to be part of their PDAF. I know that they are not going to offer me P50 million for my vote, I will throw it back to their faces. As a matter of fact, you saw it for yourself, from 2003 to 2007, I had no PDAF because I was an opponent of (then President) Gloria (Arroyo). They couldn’t bribe me,” he added.
The matter stems from the alleged additional PDAF or pork barrel that was supposedly taken from President Aquino’s economic stimulus program called Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP), distributed to some senators and congressmen before, during and after the Corona impeachment trial, supposedly on top of their regular allotment of their yearly PDAF.
The senator also explained that even if the Senate was an independent body from the high court, there were certain cases that the SC would say yes while the Senate could take jurisdiction on it.
“But they will look for esoteric reasoning that lawyers are usually able to do in order to justify throwing this to the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of the Philippines,” he added.
House leaders, including Speaker Feliciano Belmonte, and congressman-prosecutors of the impeachment trial, meanwhile, denied any bribery took place, saying if there was, it never was a factor in proceedings as they insisted they won the case fair and square.
While airing confidence that bribery cannot be proved, congressmen, however, expressed various views as to how Corona can get justice in case evidence will prove that financial and considerations other than evidence influenced the way the senator-judges voted.
Several members of the prosecution team from the House of Representatives reacted to reports that Puno had warned that the removal of the impeached magistrate may be voided.
“No bribery whatsoever. Ex-chief justice is certainly very vocal nowadays,” Belmonte said.
Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas Jr., also the chairman of the House committee on justice and head of the prosecution team, said claims of bribery were mere speculations.
He, however, pointed out that the conviction of Corona is now final.
For his part, impeachment prosecutors and partylist Representatives Rep. Sherwin Tugna (Cibac) and Neri Colmenares (Bayan Muna) also aired confidence that claims of bribery have no bases.
“I disagree with the former CJ (Puno). The impeachment case was decided on the merits by the Senate impeachment court,” Tugna said.
“It was an open trial for almost half a year. The respondent, former CJ Corona, had his day in court and was given due process,” he added.
Tugna said Puno must first prove bribery before airing any comment on the issue.
Colmenares also defended the Senate ruling on the impeachment issue, saying Corona’s “guilt has been established.”
A staunch critic of the Aquino administration’s DAP expenditures, Colmenares admitted that accusations of bribery had indeed tainted the decision of the Senate.
“If former CJ Corona wants it nullified he has to ask the Senate to reconvene since according to the SC impeachment is a political act beyond the jurisdiction of the court,” he explained.
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