Impeachment trial transcript

Sen. Francis Guevara Escudero (FGE): Thank you, Mr. President, just three points actually. One this was raised earlier already, tungkol ho din sa tinatanong na, tinanong ko ho ito kahapon, ano bang depenisyon nyo kalian ba idedeklara dahil lumalabas ho yata na teyorya ng prosekusyon sabi nyo kahapon, kapagka na execute yung deed of sale, eh di dapat nilagay na sa SALN, sabi ng depensa kahapon na kapagka na turnover at tinanggap na doon dapat ilagay sa SALN. Ngayon kasi lumalabas yung titulo nasa pangalan pa ni Chief Justice Corona pero may deed of sale na, may I ask the prosecutor, if it is proven that indeed there was a deed of sale , kung napatunayan ho ng depensa pagdating ng tuen nila, pero yung titulo nakapangalan pa rin sa kanya, ayon sa inyokahapon kapagka may deed of sale, kahit wala pang titulo dapat ideklara na. Binibilang nyo pa rin po ba nyo ito? Kung saka-sakaling mapatunayan nga, bibilangin nyo pa ba ito kung may deed of sale na bagaman hindi pa rehistrado, kailangan ba naka lagay din po ba sa SALN nya yon.

Prosecution: Well that is a matter of defense and appreciation of the impeachment court.

FGE: But I would like to request, Mr. President, since we requested them to submit a memorandum on this matter, will you kindly include this circumstance because you cannot be inconsistent nor you can have a double standard on this and the same is true with the defense as pointed out by Sen. Recto, hindi pupwedeng kapag ka pumapabor sa magkabilang panig it should be consistent and one and the same.

The second point, Mr. President, your honor, I join Sen. Arroyo we might be wasting our time discussing crimes that may not be impeachable, for example assuming may video na nag jay walking so Chief Justice Corona, is this of the nature, is this a violation of the law, is this of the nature that we can impeach him based on this criminal act? Let say naglagay ka sa LTO para mabilis-bilis ang pagbigay ng kanyang lisensiya, may video din yung pagbigay ng pera, pagbigay ng P500, is this of the nature, what essentially we are asking for is kindly educate us on the gravity and level of crimes that would be and should be considered as impeachable. In the United States for example, they also require similar documents to be presented as our SALN. They speak of a range, if you go beyond a certain range then you're liable, but if you're a below a certain range, below or higher the actual value, okay lang yon, so in other worlds what I am asking for is kung mahigit sa isang milyon ang na-missed niyang hindi dineklara, does that make you impeachable? Kung limang daang libo lang does that make it impeachable? Kung anim ang deneklara tapos lima lang pala talaga is that impeachable? Can you do that in your memorandum, on the part of the defense and the prosecution.

Senate President Enrile: May I request the parties be courteous to one another...

FGE: Mr. President, sans the arguments and the debates by the parties again, I simply requesting for a memorandum on this matter, we need not hear them at this point in time.

May last point, Mr. President, your honor, is just for clarity because I have been counting the properties, last time I heard the prosecution they announced that the Chief Justice has 45 properties, just what I may find out if my count is accurate, so far the prosecution has presented how many properties, my count is 18 properties, both in his name and the name of his espouse, in the name of his children, plus six parking lots, that makes it 24, if I will include the parking lots as properties, you announced o the media and here I guess in the impeachment court as well, that it's 45, do I take it that you're presenting 21 more titles?

Tupas: No, your honor, the 45 properties (inaudible) from the Land Registration Authority, but as far as the prosecution is concerned so far we've presented 21 titles.

FGE: 21? Mr. President, at this juncture I join the chair and again, using this as an example in revealing evidence to the public, one side already said there were 45 titles and here we are waiting for 45 titles to be presented and I hope, Mr. President, your honor, that this will serve as a guide that unless evidence is presented before the court and accepted, we cannot evaluate it, it is unfair to the senator-judges to be accused of 45 yan ano ba naman kayo ganyan pa rin ang desisyon nyo, ang pinipresenta pa lang pala ninyo ay 21. Do I take it you will not even reach 45?

Tupas: We will not reach 45 and we just want to put in record, your honor, that the 45 did not come from the prosecution. It was a letter... Just for clarification the 45 properties came from the Land Registration Authority, it was a letter coming not from the prosecution but from a government agency and right now, it is up to the prosecution to present evidence and so far we've presented 21 properties, we might present some more but we are not bound by the 45 properties from the Land Registration Authority.

FGE: Mr. President, just one point and I will yield to sen. Estrada. Mr. President I know the letter come from the Land Registration Authority but it was the prosecution or through its spokespersons that revealed it to the public and told the public about the fact that there are 45 properties. Again it is putting us in a vine, because although it was announced there was 45, in actuality only 21, 24, 25 that will be presented, we might be put on the spot na hindi naming nakita yung 45 eh ang prinisenta lang naman talaga dito eh yon lang naman talaga, ang again I just want to make sure of my count, so it's not 18, it's 21 so far, plus the ones that will be presented.

Tupas: Yes, that's correct, your honor.

FGE: Thank you, Mr. President, I yield to Sen. Estrada, Mr. President.