WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2012
1
AT 2:36 P.M., THE PRESIDING OFFICER, SENATE PRESIDENT JUAN PONCE ENRILE,CALLED THE IMPEACHMENT TRIAL OF SUPREME COURT CHIEF JUSTICE RENATO C.CORONA TO ORDER.
The Presiding Officer.
The continuation of the Impeachment Trial of the Hon. Chief JusticeRenato C. Corona of the Supreme Court is hereby called to order.We shall be led in prayer by Manny Villar.
Senator Villar.
Today is Ash Wednesday, a humbling reminder of our mortality that from dustwe were created and to dust we shall return. What we do on this earth, we shall account to the GreatJudge and Jury.Lord, You have said, “Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to oneanother. Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great,but judge your neighbor fairly.”Allow us then, o Lord, to sift through the facts with an unflinching eye for truth in accordwith the precepts of justice. Let your servants ferret through the impeachment process bylooking where there is wrongdoing and discerning where there is none.Let no man, wealth or malice stand between this Court and its purpose. As electedSenator-Judges, make our institution a bastion of democracy and let our conduct mirror thespirit of unity rather than divisiveness.
Bantayan Mo Po ang bawat salitang lalabas sa aming bibig. Nawa’y hindi ito pagmulan ng hindi pagkakaintindihan o pagkakagalit, bagkus ay magdulot ito ngliwanag sa aming mga kaisipan.
Republic of the Philippines
Senate
Record of the Senate
Sitting As An Impeachment Court
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Pasay City
2
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2012
______________
*
Arrived after the roll call
Panginoon, ikaw ang pinagmulan ng lahat ng pag-ibig at karunungan. Tanggapin Mo Poang panalanging ito bilang alay sa Iyo at sa bayan. Ikaw ang aming lakas at sa pamamagitan Mo kami ay naglilingkod sa bayan. Hinihiling ponamin ito sa banal at dakilang Pangalan ni Hesus.
Amen.
The Presiding Officer.
Amen.The Secretary will now please call the roll of Members.
The Secretary,
reading
:Senator Edgardo J. Angara...............................................................PresentSenator Joker P. Arroyo...................................................................PresentSenator Alan Peter “Compañero” S. Cayetano.................................Present*Senator Pia S. Cayetano...................................................................PresentSenator Miriam Defensor Santiago....................................................PresentSenator Franklin M. Drilon................................................................PresentSenator Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada.......................................................PresentSenator Francis J.G. Escudero..........................................................PresentSenator Teofisto L. Guingona III.......................................................PresentSenator Gregorio B. Honasan II........................................................PresentSenator Panfilo M. Lacson................................................................PresentSenator Manuel “Lito” M. Lapid.......................................................PresentSenator Loren Legarda......................................................................PresentSenator Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr...................................PresentSenator Sergio R. Osmeña III...........................................................Present*Senator Francis N. Pangilinan............................................................PresentSenator Aquilino L. Pimentel III........................................................PresentSenator Ralph G. Recto....................................................................PresentSenator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr......................................................PresentSenator Vicente C. Sotto III.............................................................PresentSenator Antonio “Sonny” F. Trillanes IV...........................................Present*Senator Manny Villar.........................................................................PresentThe Senate President.........................................................................Present
The Presiding Officer.
There are 20 Senator-Judges present. The Presiding Officer declares thepresence of a quorum.The Floor Leader.
Senator Sotto.
Mr. President, may I ask the Sergeant-at-Arms to make the proclamation?
The Presiding Officer.
The Sergeant-at-Arms is directed to make the proclamation.
The Sergeant-at-Arms.
All persons are commanded to keep silent under pain of penalty whilethe Senate is sitting in trial on the Articles of Impeachment against Chief Justice Renato C. Corona.
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2012
3
The Presiding Officer.
The Floor Leader.
Senator Sotto.
Mr. President, I move that we dispense with the reading of the February 21, 2012
Journal
of the Senate sitting as an Impeachment Court, and consider the same as approved.
The Presiding Officer.
Any objection?
[Silence]
There being none, the February 21, 2012Journal of the Senate sitting as an Impeachment Court is hereby approved.The Secretary will now please call the case.
The Secretary.
Case No. 002-2011, in the Matter of Impeachment Trial of Honorable Chief Justice Renato C. Corona.
The Presiding Officer.
Appearances.The Floor Leader.
Senator Sotto.
Yes, for the Prosecution, Mr. President.
Representative Tupas.
Good afternoon, Mr. President, Your Honor. For the Prosecution panelof the House of Representatives, same appearances.
The Presiding Officer.
Noted.The Defense.
Mr. Cuevas.
For the Defense, Your Honor, the same appearance.
The Presiding Officer.
Noted.The Floor Leader.
Senator Sotto.
Mr. President, before the business for the day, Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiagowould like to be recognized.
The Presiding Officer.
The lady-senator from Iloilo is recognized.
Senator Defensor Santiago.
I beg the indulgence of our colleagues in making this manifestation.Our Constitution provides under Article III, which is entitled “The Bill of Rights,” Section 1, “No personshall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor shall any person be deniedthe equal protection of the laws.” Section 1 is only one sentence. It consists of two parts, what lawyerscall the “due process clause,” and number two, what lawyers call, the “equal protection clause.” Andyet, Section 1 is so powerful that even if you deleted the entire Bill of Rights and remained only withSection 1, every single Filipino citizen would still be entitled to the entire panoply of human rightsenshrined in our Constitution.
Ganoon katindi ang bigat ng
equal protection clause
at ng
due processclause.
Ngayon
, the business for the day is the due process clause. Because, yesterday, Prosecutionwanted to present a PAL officer and the Presiding Officer ruled that because bribery is not allegedunder Article III, then Prosecution cannot present that PAL officer. I support that ruling. In fact, Iinsist on it because of the due process clause of our Constitution. The due process clause is soimportant that, as I said, in the view of certain constitutional experts with tripartite democracies likeours all over the world,
tanggalin mo na ang buong Saligang Batas, iwan mo lang ang
due process
at ang
equal protection clauses,
meron ka ng
protection
ng buong Saligang Batas para sakarapatang pantao.
That is how important due process is.
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