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Friday, March 9, 2012

Corona confident about his acquittal

By Ritchie A. Horario, Reporter

SUPREME Court (SC) Chief Justice Renato Corona on Wednesday expressed confidence that he would emerge victorious from his trial before the Senate impeachment court.

His acquittal, Corona said, would strengthen the judiciary.

“‘Pag ako abswelto, lalong tatatag at titibay ang judiciary, ang institution. Iyon naman ang pinaglalaban natin, hindi ko pinaglalaban ang sarili ko [If I will be acquitted, the judiciary, the institution, will become stronger and more stable. That is what we are fighting for, I am not fighting for myself alone],” he pointed out during an interview over GMA-7.

During the interview, Corona accused a colleague in the High Tribunal, Associate Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, of lying in her dissenting opinion on a decision of the SC to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) that allowed former President and now Rep. Gloria Arroyo of Pampanga province to leave the country.

In her dissenting opinion, Sereno claimed that the Chief Justice tried to manipulate the decision that also covered Mrs. Arroyo’s request to seek medical treatment abroad.

Corona said that he really would have wanted the associate justice to testify before the Senate impeachment court so that he could refute her claims and prove that she was lying.

“Hinihintay nga namin siyang mag-testigo . . . Hindi namin siya pinipigilan. In fact, gustung-gusto namin siyang mag-testify doon pero siya ay umatras. Bakit ko gustong siya ay mag-testify? Eh kasi patutunayan kong siya ay nagsisinungaling [We have waited for her to testify, we did not prevent her from doing so. In fact, we really wanted her to testify but she refused. Why did I want her to testify? Because I wanted to prove that she was lying],” the Chief Justice added.

Sereno, an appointee of President Benigno Aquino 3rd to the Supreme Court, had turned down an invitation of the House prosecution panel for her to testify, saying that for her to do so was moot after the prosecution rested its case.

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