Lacson to Move vs Unnecessary Objections Delaying Corona Impeach Trial

When the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona resumes next week, Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson will push for ways to hasten the proceedings without sacrificing due process, as he noted many unnecessary legal objections are weighing down the trial.

Lacson said that during the first week of the impeachment trial, the Senate as an impeachment court was consistently bogged down by so many objections on the floor that accomplish "nothing except a delay in the trial."

"I intend to manifest next week before my co-jurors this observation, with the sole purpose of expediting the trial while preserving due process. There must be a balance between the two concerns and we must find that balance," Lacson said.

The Senate acting as an impeachment court resumes its hearings on Jan. 24.

Lacson said that while the trial in the Senate is not even a criminal proceeding but an impeachment trial, “we're consistently bogged down by so many objections on the floor that accomplish nothing except a delay in the trial.”

“While I'm not necessarily a stranger to court proceedings having quite a long experience appearing as a witness in the many criminal cases that I filed when I was still in the law enforcement service, I am now beginning to understand why it is impossible for justice to be rendered swiftly and fairly,” he said.

In many cases, he said a poor litigant will quit after exhausting whatever little savings he has when confronted in court by so many legal technicalities that delay his quest for justice.

"Now I understand why poor litigants seek justice elsewhere outside the courtroom, either by putting the law in their own hands to settle the score against a rich and powerful respondent, or turn to the New People's Army's kangaroo court," he said.

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Lacson Scores 'Undisciplined' Public Presentation of 'Evidence' on Pending Impeachment Trial

Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson on Wednesday scored what he called an "undisciplined" public presentation of evidence in the upcoming impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona.

Lacson said he cannot sit idly by as a senator-judge while the rules on impeachment trials, which prohibit the parties concerned from making comments and disclosures on the merits of a case, are blatantly violated.

"If we allow such undisciplined public presentation of evidence by any party in utter disregard of the ethics of their legal profession to continue, the Senate may lose control of the situation and I am certain it will damage not just the Senate as an impeachment court but the sacredness of the whole impeachment process as well," he said.

He noted the Rules of Procedure on Impeachment Trials unambiguously prohibit senator-judges, as well as prosecutors, the person impeached, their counsels and witnesses "from making any comments and disclosures in public pertaining to the merits of a pending impeachment trial."

The Senate, convening as an impeachment court, will start on Jan. 16 the impeachment trial of Corona, who the House of Representatives impeached last December.

But Lacson said some parties that continue to make public comments or so-called "disclosures" on the case threaten to make a mockery of the proceedings.

"We should not allow such mockery to go unchecked. Either we throw our impeachment rules out of the window or straight to their faces," he said.

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