What Corona defense should focus on?

What Corona defense should focus on?

By BERTENI "TOTO" CATALUÑA CAUSING
Editor-in-chief, Dyaryo Magdalo


Why bother to question the motive behind and the haste that the impeachment complaint was done?

This is not a good defense.

That is because of the reality that there are substantive damning evidence that, accidentally or otherwise, proved the allegations in the complaint, no matter how poorly done was the complaint. 

The Senate as the Impeachment Court will never go to strict technicalities given the fact that the voice of the people weighs in strongly into the minds of the senators-judges-jurors.  The people do not mind how the complaint was prepared or the reasons behind the complaint.

It is not also a good defense to attempt to argue that the bank account records were leaked because the impeachment trial can always invoke away from strict court procedures if only the senators would need to justify the admission of these bank records as evidence.  This is again dictated by the fact that the senators-jurors can always say: "Hey, this is an impeachment trial and not a criminal or civil trial."  To the mind of the people, what is important to them is that the evidence are there and that this mind is dangerous to the defense because the people's voice is a big force in the mind of the senators.

If I were the defense counsel, I would dedicate all my energy to studying how I can come up with a clear and convincing evidence to explain the big difference between the SALN-listed assets and the actual assets presented.

Some of the most important items for the defense to do are the following:

1.  Explanation why the condo units established by the evidence of the prosecution were not listed in the SALN in accordance with the actual price of purchase;

2.  Explanation why the monies used in buying the condos were not reflected in the SALN, so necessary because if you have money to buy there must be the source of that money, and if there are sources, explain the circumstances why the money used to acquire the condominium units cannot be seen at the SALN;

3.  Explanation why it was believable that the corporation of the family of the wife of the Chief Justice could loan out P11 million to explain why there was no listing of P11 million cash in the year previous to the P11-million loan and to explain that the P11 million was not the money of the Chief Justice but that of the Basa-Guidote Enterprises, Inc. (BGEI) so that he did not have any obligation to list the P11 million in the SALN in the year before the P11 million came to being;

4.  Explanation why the monies used to pay off the BGEI's P11-million loan were not listed in the SALN;

5.  Explanation to prove that the P31 million withdrawn on December 12, 2011 should not be listed in the SALN for the years 2010 and below;

6.  Explanation why there was no bias that attended the Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) issued to Gloria Macapagal Arroyo; and

7.  Explanation why the Impeachment Court should not believe in the events stated in the dissent of Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno.

BUT I AM NOT A LAWYER OF THE CHIEF JUSTICE, SO I JUST HOPE MY FORMER PROFESSORS (Atty. Jack Jimenez, Atty. Judd Roy and Atty. Tranquil Salvador III) HANDLING HIS DEFENSE TAKE NOTE OF MY NOTES.