House team to press subpoenas for records, justices

NOT so fast.

The House prosecution panel is not giving up its bid to subpoena Supreme Court justices and High Tribunal records, saying that transparency should rule in the name of public interest.

Representatives Romero Quimbo of Marikina City (Metro Manila) and Juan Edgardo Angara of Aurora province, the spokesmen for the prosecutors, made the announcement on Friday after the High Court decided to prevent its magistrates from testifying against Chief Jus- tice Corona before the Senate impeachment court and denied the tribunal from accessing past and present records.

“We do not welcome this, because

this is against transparency. We are looking at remedies, such as making an appeal to the Senate impeachment court [to issue] the subpoenas,” Quimbo said during a press conference.

The prosecution panel wants 13 Associate Justices to take the witness stand, namely: Jose Perez, Diosdado Peralta, Lucas Bersamin, Jose Mendoza, Ma. Lourdes Sereno, Bienvenido Reyes, Roberto Abad, Martin Villarama, Estela Perlas-Bernabe, Mariano del Castillo, Antonio Carpio, Presbiterio Velasco Jr. and Arturo Brion.

If called, Perez, Peralta, Bersamin, Mendoza, Sereno, Reyes, Abad, Villarama and Perlas-bernabe will testify as witnesses for Article III, which accuses Corona of committing culpable violation of the Constitution/betrayal of public trust for flip-flopping decisions of the Supreme Court in final and executory cases.

As for del Castillo, Carpio, Velasco and Brion, they will testify as witnesses for Article VII, which alleges that the Chief Justice betrayed public trust for issuing a temporary restraining order on the watch list orders on former President and now Rep. Gloria Arroyo of Pampanga province and her husband Jose Miguel.