Philippine vice president warns against shortcuts in impeachment

Jan 19, 2012, 8:24 GMT

Manila - Philippine Vice President Jejomar Binay warned Thursday against shortcuts in the first-ever impeachment trial against the country's top judge, saying any breach in the proceedings could lead to a 'ruinous' and 'painful' mistake.

Binay cited the impeachment trial against former president Joseph Estrada for alleged corruption, which was not completed after prosecutors walked out to protest the alleged bias of the Senate court after evidence was not allowed to be admitted.

The walkout triggered a mass uprising that led to Estrada's ouster and the accession of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to the presidency.

'Many of us were euphoric about that decision,' he said at a forum with foreign correspondents in Manila, 'but it took the rest of the Gloria Macapagal Arroyo presidency to make everyone realize that the constitutional shortcut was a ruinous mistake.'

'It was wrong to have allowed an enraged public, rather than due process and the rule of law, to take control of the constitutional process and to have allowed the impeachment trial to be aborted because of pressure from the streets,' he said.

In the first four days of the impeachment trial of Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona, which began Monday, prosecutors have struggled against technical objections by the defence to admit evidence to allegedly show that the respondent lied about his assets in an annual disclosure report that all public officials must submit.

Corona is accused of corruption and bias.