MISTER President, esteemed colleagues, distinguished brothers in the profession from the prosecution and defense, ladies and gentlemen.
Kung nalaman ko lamang dinala ko na libro ko Mr. President. Sa nakalipas na limang buwan ang atensyon ng sambayanan ay nakatuon sa impeachment trial ni Chief Justice Renato Corona.
Mula sa pagiging pribadong abogado, siya ay nanungkulan sa ilalim ng dalawang pangulo. at nahirang bilang pinakamataas na mahistrado isang natatanging tagumpay sa isang abogado ang pinakamataas na posisyon sa isa sa tatlong magkakapantay na sangay ng pamahalaan. Ngunit napapaloob po dito ang isa pang istorya, ang kwento ng isang pamilya na pinagwatak watak ng mapait na away tungkol sa pag-aari at pera.
Tumagal ng tatlumpung taon ang away, nauwi sa demandahan at humantong pa dito sa paglilitis natin. Pera, kapangyarihan, away pamilya ito po ang ugat ng istoryang ito.
Hindi ang lahat ng ito ay matutugunan natin sa paglilitis na ito subalit hangad po namin, hangad ko po, na sana ay dito rin ay magkaroon ng hantungan o closure ang away pamilya. The question Mr president is quite simply: Is the Chief Justice alleged failure to disclose a true and complete statement of assets as mandated by the Constitution and whether this constitutes culpable violation of the constitution and orbetrayal of public trust?
The Constitution and our statutes every public official to make and submit “a complete disclosure of his assets liabilities and networth or SALN in order to suppress any question of illegal accumulation of wealth.”
This obligatory Constitutional rule seeks to eradicate corruption, promote transparency in government and maintain its standard of honesty in public service.
The prosecution and the defense, Mr. President, combined as one in producing proof that the chief justice’s bank accounts that he did not declare in his SALN and removing any iota of doubt about this vital fact was the chief justice himself coming here to testify openly and openly admit that in fact, he did have he did have four US dollar accounts totalling 2, 400,000 pesos and 3 peso accounts of 80, 700 pesos.
I may grant the chief justice’s plea of honest mistake of judgement but given his broad experience in public law and practice in investment advisory services this wilful and deliberate omission together with the magnitude of the amounts involved amounts to culpable violation.
Yesterday you (Enrile) were asking what is the root meaning of “culpable” Mr. President I just looked it up this morning, the dictionary meaning, It means simply “a failure meriting condemnation.”
The Chief Justice justified his willful failure to disclose his US dollar accounts on the so-called absolute confidentiality provision of the Foreign Currency Deposit Act. However it seems clear to me Mr. President that the mantel of protection is extended to foreign depositors to foreign savers in the spirit of promoting foreign investments.
The law was never, never intended to be a convenient excuse for Filipino, especially for Filipino public servants to conceal their assets. When the accounts were disclosed, by no less than the chief justice, this let this court know no constraint, no prohibition against admitting the evidence and weighing it in the scale of justice.
The defense argues that the ombudsman illegally obtained documents on chief justice’s bank transaction while there was no pending case involving the subject bank accounts or any court order authorizing the production of such records.
Mr. President this argument overlooks one important fact , it fails to consider the documents produced by the AMLC (Anti-Money Laundering Council) or rather produced by the ombudsman were official records of the AMLC, which it receives from covered institutions pursuant to law. The ombudsman has the power and authority to obtain these records from the AMLC pursuant to the Consitution and the chief justice on written waiver on his SALN.
On the whole Mr. President, the defense’s main objection doesn’t sound acceptable, it rings hollow to me since the chief justice himself admitted to the existence of these accounts and more than that the amounts they held not to mention the fact that information of these were provided for by witnesses presented by the defense panel themselves.
The supreme court no less has said ‘no position exacts a greater demand on moral righteousness and uprightness of an individual than the chief in the judiciary.”
As the head of the judiciary, a standard far higher, is placed for Renato C. Corona . This impeachment breaks new ground, this senate sitting as judges adopts its own rules and makes its own decision within the bounds of the rule of law. It can initiate new doctrines, it can pass new precedents, its pronouncement is the final word.
It seems unnecessary for me to dwell further Mr president on the 80.7 million account of the chjief justice, which he said is a commingled fund, commingled with his children and the Basa-Guidote family.
But this fund could very well provide the seed of reconciliation to feuding branches of the family.
For this reason Mr. President, I find the respondent guilty.
