The prosecution’s self-inflicted wounds

““Falsus in unum, falsus in omnibus” which means

“False in one thing, false in everything”? “

Written by : ATTY. DODO DULAY

(graphic from The Manila Standard)

Judging from their media pronouncements before the start of Supreme Court (SC) Chief Justice Renato Corona’s impeachment trial, the House prosecution team probably thought they had an open-and-shut case against Corona. How they must have had a rude awakening when the impeachment trial got underway. What they thought would be a cakewalk turned out to be a series of embarrassing blunders and missteps that became quite painful to watch. And to think Corona’s defense team hadn’t even started presenting their evidence yet.

The start of trial proper on Day 2 began rather ominously. The viewing public expected the prosecution team to begin presenting its evidence on Article I of the impeachment complaint. But when asked to begin the presentation of its evidence, the prosecution represented by Rep. Elpidio Barzaga admitted they were not ready to present evidence on Article I but were ready on Article II regarding Corona’s failure to disclose his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN). Barzaga tried to salvage the day by arguing that he was ready to present certified true copies of titles and deeds of absolute sale as evidence. But without the official custodian testifying on these documents’ authenticity, these would be inadmissible as evidence. So when Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile asked if the prosecution would rather postpone or proceed with the presentation of evidence, Barzaga tried to wriggle out of embarrassment by saying that the prosecution was willing to postpone – and this is the clincher – “in order to accord the defense (the opportunity) to prepare for the proceedings.” Utang na loob pa ng defense.

As the trial went on, things went from bad to worse. When the prosecution presented its tenth witness, lawyer Noli Hernandez, who is a senior vice president of Megaworld, they were in for a big surprise. Instead of bolstering their case, Hernandez demolished the prosecution’s argument that Corona violated the canons of judicial ethics when he received a huge discount from Megaworld—for there was no discount but a necessary price reduction. Hernandez also denied that the P10-million price reduction it gave the Coronas for the Bellagio condominium unit was in exchange for favorable Supreme Court (SC) decisions involving Megaworld. Hernandez said the unit was water-damaged after a typhoon and the economic situation was not good in 2008, prompting the company to cut the price by about 40 percent. Although Corona wrote a decision in favor of Megaworld, Hernandez says this was four years before Corona bought the Bellagio unit. In fact, Hernandez adds that after Corona’s purchase of the Bellagio unit, Megaworld lost two cases before the SC which cost them some P47-million in monetary awards to their opponents.

Apparently, the prosecution violated the oft-quoted maxim of trial technique: Never ask a question to which you don’t already know the answer. That means don’t put your witness on the stand unless you know what he’s going to say ahead of time. Reacting to the unexpected testimony of their own witness, prosecution spokesman Rep. Miro Quimbo now says the Megaworld executive was not saying the exact truth. Isn’t that like calling their own witness a liar?

Poor fella. Nabansagan pang sinungaling.

And then came the finger-pointing. If you will recall, just days before the start of the impeachment trial, Rep. Miro Quimbo was all over the television, radio and newspaper claiming that Corona had 45 real estate properties. He even dared Corona to prepare the deed of donation for 45 real properties under his and his children’s names so the government can take hold of these once their ownership is proven. Thanks to the Internet, Quimbo’s words have been memorialized in cyberspace - permanently.

Fast forward to Day 11 of the impeachment trial. House lead prosecutor Rep. Niel Tupas, admits that Corona does not own 45 real estate properties and blames the erroneous media reports on the Land Registration Authority (LRA). “We just want to put on record that the 45 did not come from the prosecution. It was a letter.....”, Tupas said before being cut off due to loud groans from spectators inside the Senate. For his part, Quimbo says he does not recall saying any such thing. Both being lawyers, haven’t they come across the Latin phrase “Falsus in unum, falsus in omnibus” which means “False in one thing, false in everything”?

So after the dust has settled, what did Tupas have to say about all these? In a morning TV talk show, he was heard saying that what has happened is part of the strategy of Corona’s defense team to make them look like amateurs and unprepared. Is he serious?! Maybe someone should tell Tupas that they’re doing a great job on their own. Or maybe, as several cyber denizens have suggested, they should spend more time behind a book rather than in front of the cameras.