Small Lady, Big Congressman, Huge Mistake!

The “Small Lady” story has been hounding the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona as the Senate seeks to find out if the documents submitted by the prosecution, and whose source is the small lady, is a fake. Lawyers for PS Bank and the President of PS Bank stated that the documents are not the same, contain alterations and are PEKE or local vernacular for fake. Presiding Judge Juan Ponce Enrile has insisted however that they bring the original document to compare the documents to those presented by the prosecution panel and attached to the subpoena.

Several Senators have berated the prosecution panel for the allegedly fake document and their submission of this to the impeachment body without any prior sleuthing on their part. Big Man Congressman Rey Umali has continued to stick to the small lady tale even as the CCTV Senate Cameras did not find any footage of the actual transfer of documents from the small lady to the big congressman.

This story has been determined as a huge mistake in terms of making the impeachment process faster. Questions of law on evidence and a TRO from the Supreme Court has damaged the prosecution case indubitably. As they try to solve this snag, the prosecution has changed their position by publicly saying that the accounts of Corona has been verified by the PS Bank President despite of questions on its authenticity.

The Senate impeachment court will be hearing more from the PS Bank today on the fake document issue. On another note, there are some PS Bank customers who have claimed that their accounts have been tampered and are filling cases against it.

The Big Congressman through his small lady story may just be a huge mistake for the impeachment court, the prosecution and the banking industry!

Umali defends authenticity of documents

Congressman Rey V. Umali of Oriental Mindoro provided excuses on where in Senate premises the allegedly fake documents passed on to him by who he claimed as “little lady”. Viewing the CCTV coverage, he claims that the documents may have been passed in places not covered by any Senate CCTV camera. He stated that at this time no conclusions should be made as to the authenticity of the documents passed to him but under oath was identified by the PSBank manager as a fake.

Umali, who is a Liberal Party member also said that they had no way of checking on the authenticity of the fake document. But made an excuse that he verified it against trial documents he had in his possession. He said that the authenticity of the document should not be put in question but rather focus on the results it provided which was to verify the existence of the bank accounts of Corona in the PS Bank. “The accounts exist as verified by the PS Bank President!”

It is apparent that the congressmen prosecutors are head-over-heels in searching or creating documents to pursue the impeachment case. This after the President had announced his displeasure in how the prosecution was pursuing the case.

The alleged document which led to a subpoena issued by the Senate irked Presiding Judge Juan Ponce Enrile and earned the ire of several Senator jurists. Enrile said, “It seems to me that you are pursuing the impeachment and gathering evidence through the subpoenas!” More so, because the subpoena almost led the country into a constitutional crisis where the Supreme Court issued a TRO against the opening of any Foreign Currency Bank accounts pursuant to the law.

The prosecution panel was asked to explain in a memorandum to explain the reasons behind the “fake documents.” Senator Defensor remained unconvinced however and berated Congressman Farinas and Tupas on the legalities and penalties for providing the impeachment court fake and spurious documents.

Corona’s accounts were verified by PS Bank President through the alleged document. But Bank Manager Tiongson, whom the prosecution belatedly adopted as their witness said the attached document is not a PS Bank document.

A legal analyst stated however that the onus would on who released the documents, if they are real or true copies, as this would hold them accountable to penalties under the Bank Secrecy Laws of the Philippines. The prosecution has refused to disclose the source of the documents, only stating that it came from a “little lady” and that it has been verified by the PS Bank President anyway.

The Senate has asked PS Bank to present documents in their possession in connection with the “fake documents.”

Liberal Party Senators want Mistrial in Corona Impeachment.

Senator Judges from the Liberal Party have gone on a publicity onslaught stating that the Defense Panel is using a strategy to cause a mistrial in the Corona Impeachment proceedings. Senator Osmena stated that the Defense are laying the basis to cause a mistrial. This after the prosecution was publicly admonished by Presiding Judge Juan Ponce Enrile for using questionable and fake documents to have the bank accounts of Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona.

These 4 Senator Judges are Franklin Drillon, Francis Pangilinan, Senator Guingona and Senator Osmena. All 4 have been seen as biased for the prosecution and towing the President’s wish for the impeachment of the Chief Justice. Drillon is often seen pursuing questions and conducting his own trial when the Prosecution team is stumped by former Justice Serafin Cuevas or the Presiding Judge.

The accusation leveled by the 4 Senators is a Publicity tactic to counter the huge negative impact caused by the purported use of fake documents by the prosecution team.

If there were to be a mistrial, the reasons would be simple:

1. A flawed verified complaint from the Congress that is full of general statements – where are the 45 properties?
2. Incompetent Prosecution Team – ill prepared for the trial.
3. The use of FAKE documents to pursue their case;
4. The clear bias of some Senator Judges.

A mistrial will only tend to favor the prosecution because they can then accuse the other Senators of being pro-Corona. An accusation of a mistrial would cover up for the use of the fake documents and the apparent lack of evidence for the impeachment proceedings to proceed.

On the other hand, a mistrial is largely unfavorable to the Defense or even the Chief Justice because doubt has already been cast on the integrity of not only Corona, but the Supreme Court itself. An analysis of the proceedings and statements of the prosecution will bear this out.

What Malacanang has ordered the prosecution to do is to go after Corona with promised explicit support from the Executive Department and its branches – and more importantly from the liberal party senators like Drillon, Osmena, Pangilinan and Guingona. This the prosecution heeded by using FAKE documents and undertaking a “fishing expedition” even if they knew very well that what they were doing was against the law.

Now how can we trust these so-called law makers when they themselves break the law. Guingona says he speaks for the people and that the people are angry! No, he does not speak for all Filipinos! And YES the people are angry for their waste of public funds to pursue their own agendas and their lack of concentration for the general welfare of the country! If Guingona had his way, Corona would have already been publicly lynched regardless of the law!

So, is there really a mistrial strategy? Maybe, but this would be the strategy of the Prosecution and their allied Senators because they believe they do not have the numbers in the Senate or do not have the constitution and law on their side. They are inflaming the public to go in the streets and take the law in their hands to remove Corona and force him to resign even when the defense has yet to present its case and evidence.