‘Too early to judge impeachment trial outcome’

MANILA, Philippines – It is premature to conclude that Chief Justice Renato Corona will go scott-free since there are more evidence to be presented at the ongoing impeachment trial against him, a Palace official said Sunday, February 5.

Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said this in an interview with state-run Radyo ng Bayan when asked about the perceived poor performance of the prosecution team.

The trial has been going on for the past 3 weeks and only Article 2 of the 8 articles of impeachment has been tackled.

“We have to remember also that the prosecution has only presented evidence related to Article II. There still have 7 left and we still have a lot to hear, and witness in this impeachment trial… Let us just defer judgment on this. The trial is still ongoing. We don’t know what would happen in the next chapter,” she said.

Valte said that the prosecution has a has a pending subpoena for the opening of some bank accounts that allegedly belong to the Coronas, which will be juxtaposed with their Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth.

Given this, he said, “at this point it is still a little premature” since there are seven more charges against the Chief Justice.

“We don’t want to preempt the decision of the  Senate impeachment tribunal,” she said. – Rappler.com