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Saturday, April 14, 2012

SAL SALN Mo Bebe: The Continuing Travails of the Premature Prosecution

After all the 100 witnesses, 57 private lawyers, DSWD’s tax-paid mobs, the frenzy on the assets of Corona – the Prosecution admits discrepancies in Corona SALNs ‘not high crime’

February 2, 2012 5:13pm
The prosecution on Thursday admitted that inaccuracies in a public official’s Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN) can not be considered as a “high crime,” which is one of the grounds for an official to be impeached.

During Thursday’s impeachment trial against Chief Justice Renato Corona, House prosecutor Elpidio Barzaga Jr. claimed that the impeached magistrate committed perjury because he had failed to declare the acquisition value of several of his properties in his SALNs.

But when Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, the presiding officer, asked Barzaga if perjury is a “high crime,” the prosecutor answered in the negative.

“Read the Constitution… It says [an official can be impeached if there is] culpable violation of the Constitution, treason, bribery, graft and corruption, and other high crimes…” Enrile said.

Senator Enrile was referring to Article 9, Section 2

Section 2. The President, the Vice-President, the Members of the Supreme Court, the Members of the Constitutional Commissions, and the Ombudsman may be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, culpable violation of the Constitution, treason, bribery, graft and corruption, other high crimes, or betrayal of public trust. All other public officers and employees may be removed from office as provided by law, but not by impeachment.

Wikipedia describes “high crimes” as follows:

“High” in the legal parlance of the 18th century means “against the State”. A high crime is one which seeks the overthrow of the country, which gives aid or comfort to its enemies, or which injures the country to the profit of an individual or group. In democracies and similar societies it also includes crimes which attempt to alter the outcome of elections.

The first impeachment conviction by the United States Senate was in 1804 of John Pickering, a judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire, for chronic intoxication. Geez – I wonder why this line was not applicable to Erap Estrada – chronic intoxication. Mike Velarde was a stretch – but chronic intoxication would have been right on target. But I digress.

Federal judges have been impeached and removed from office for tax evasion, conspiracy to solicit a bribe, and making false statements to a grand jury. Clearly – this is the same line that the prosecution is using when it presented the SALN discrepancies. The challenge to the prosecution, however, is whether their evidence substantiates their allegations. What the prosecution wound up doing was going on a fishing expedition instead. What that means is – the prosecution is groping in the dark, their evidence is flimsy, and that they don’t have a case.

I sense that the Enrile impeachment court is now going through the motions of attending to the childish, amateurish, off-tangent case presentation of the prosecution. It’s like knowing that the prosecution does not have a case, but you have to sit out the entire process – or risk social unrest. For short, the Senate will allow the prosecution to keep on “venting” – as a social safety valve as opposed to the rumor mongering done on the air waves. The Senate provides an avenue to refute the prosecution – the oligarch-owned airwaves don’t. But with the refutations coming from the Impeachment court – even the oligarch owned media’s talking heads can’t spin themselves out of this one. The Senate is just making sure that there is no repeat of the upheaval that followed the Estrada impeachment process – one that can potentially burn the Senate down – and along with it, the entire Republic.

Still the prosecution will go through the entire process, even if it wastes tax money and distracts the Senate from the more pressing job of getting the economy in order. Why? It’s about “teaching Corona a lesson”. The optimal goal of course is to take Corona out -or the Corona SC out. On the minimum, it will be to harass Corona and the SC and prevent it from discharging its functions – some of which are obviously not in good standing with the vested interests who are facing litigation. The problem with this scorched earth policy is that it not only destroys the SC as an institution – it also destroys the Republic’s as the legislative becomes an enabler to the coercive tendencies of the Executive. Riding roughshod on the liberties of a former president and a standing chief justice kinda gives an ironic twist.

In 1986, the Philippines supposedly kicked out the Marcos dictatorship. With political freedoms under attack and economic freedom still a dream, in 2012, the Philippines retrogresses as the fledgling Aquino dictatorship comes out of the closet.

Now back to the famous SALN. Heck, if all those SALNs are audited – and those who have discrepancies are to be penalized – you might as well impeach Aquino – and all the impeachable officials in government.

Salsalin nyo lelong nyong panot. It’s the economy – stupid student!

About the Author

BongV

has written 364 stories on this site.

BongV is the webmaster of Antipinoy.com.

Comments on “SAL SALN Mo Bebe: The Continuing Travails of the Premature Prosecution”

  • dumb-oh wrote on 2 February, 2012, 8:12

    Enjoy the drama while science subject gets replaced with ocho ocho and kendeng kendeng.

    [Reply]

  • mike lim wrote on 2 February, 2012, 8:22

    Sabi nga sa bible, “Be sober-minded; be wachful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” ( 1 Peter 5:8 ). Di ba ang mga persecutor ni CJ Corona kasama ang pinaka-puno nila ay katulad ng “devil that prowls around like a roaring lion”? Walang awa talaga sila.

    [Reply]

  • gadlayk
    gadlayk wrote on 2 February, 2012, 8:46

    only shows how incompetent the aquino administration is… the entire impeachment trial is nothing but a big JOKE. the prosecution team should concede their case and admit they don’t have the case to begin with. they must leave while they still can and salvage (if they have any) their reputation and career before this fcuking trial started. they should take it a clue when leon guerrero, este sen. lapid’s broke his silence for the first (and prolly the last) time, that c’mon they’re losing a trial that’s already lost day 1 of the impeachment… the defense team need not present any witnesses, prosecution witnesses are suffice to prove the incompetence and the absence of grounds to impeach the SC chief…

    [Reply]

    Jay Reply:

    Well see, its suppose to be a huge roundabout to try get to PGMA. I don’t know whose convinced that she is capable of running the country AGAIN with her condition, but she’s as much out of it as the rest of the cronies that stuck with her for 9 years. Going after her is hilarious considering the same people that was with her is still in senate and current cabinet anyway. But what do you expect from the prince of fools to think anything about progress. They need ALL the time to take attention away from the real pressing issues.

    [Reply]

  • NP-Hard wrote on 2 February, 2012, 9:52

    Delaying tactics. The government’s best at this.

    [Reply]

  • Hyden Toro wrote on 2 February, 2012, 14:24

    The SALN of Noynoy Aquino should be investigated, instead…he has 112 Billion Pesos Pork Barrel Fund…I do not see any tangible project, he spent on this fund…Maybe it end up already in his foreign bank accounts…to be used for development of his Hacienda Luisita. Once he can reverse the decision of Corona, and reclaim, the land they swindled from the Philippine government…
    This is how evil and wicked this people are…

    [Reply]

    Hyden Toro Reply:

    During the time of Adolf Hitler in Germany…the German Media was the only source of information for the German people…Joeseff Goebbels, was the Minister of Propaganda, like the position of Ricky Carandang now…they demonized any opponent of the Nazi Regime…Portrayed that their Nazi Troops were winning a great Victory for the great German Fatherland, in LeninGrad, Soviet Union. However, the truth was : they were bogged down in the worse Russian winter, like the Fance’s troops of Napoleon Bonaparte. The German Wermacht Army and the Nazi SS Panzer Brigade, were already surrendering to the Russians…
    If the truth, is withheld from the Filipino people, by these Media , in cahoots with Noynoy Aquino. We will end up like those German people , during the Nazi time…the Concentration Camps and the Nazi Death Camps were all over Germany, and in occupied countries…the stench of Death was 10 Km. away, from those Camps. Yet, nobody complained , for fear for being thrown into those Camps…Are we ending up like those German people?

    [Reply]

  • Ozneh wrote on 2 February, 2012, 15:24

    I thought I was looking at a tabloid headline.:)

    [Reply]

    BongV

    BongV Reply:

    that’s da pinas for you – pamahid ng tamod.

    [Reply]

    Ozneh Reply:

    You’re so lacking in decency and civility. I thought the reason this was considered a mature site because of people who comment here using foul and vulgar words. Eh ikaw naman pala nagpapasimula ng mga ganyan eh.. Kaya naman pala naeedit yung mga comments niyo sa filipinovoices eh..

    [Reply]

    BongV

    BongV Reply:

    yeah yeah yeah… pinoys who support aquino – are good for flushing in the toilet… mga taeng palamunin

    Ozneh Reply:

    Those who categorize the intelligence of a person based on whom he/she voted are people with limited minds. It’s like saying that Filipino intelligence falls into categories based on the number of candidates last election. Don’t say that you’re dividing our intelligence by eight?

    BongV

    BongV Reply:

    the fact you voted for Aquino – sure you can read and write, and you can parrot – but did you guys really think? heck did you even have intelligence in the first place. economy is down, investments are down – and pinoys are fast the world’s butt of jokes -

    Dumdum Reply:

    Oh please, don’t try to take the high intellectual ground on this one. For one, your English is broken in almost all your comments, and you were even dumb enough to publicly display your mug on Gravatar without even understanding what Gravatar is, a public, global profile pic (Globally Recognized AVATAR – GRAVATAR).

    You’re one to talk. Having voted for Noynoy when there are at least two candidates more deserving doesn’t make your mind any greater than people who write in Antipinoy. On the other hand, it shows your limited reasoning and utter lack of decent judgment.

    RETURNOFTHECOMEBACK Reply:

    NGAYONG NALAMAN MO NA SA HULI ISA LAMANG UNGGOY LANG DIN SI BONG V KAGAYA NG LAHAT NG MGA BINABATO NIYA NG TAEBAK NIYA

    BongV

    BongV Reply:

    eto pang isang kambing…

    Ozneh Reply:

    Oh please, don’t try to take the high intellectual ground on this one. For one, your English is broken in almost all your comments, and you were even dumb enough to publicly display your mug on Gravatar without even understanding what Gravatar is, a public, global profile pic (Globally Recognized AVATAR – GRAVATAR).

    -Because I prefer to use Taglish. I won different essay writing contests and part of the criteria is how well you construct your sentences. I know that I had grammatical errors in my comments here but that’s normal. Even the headmaster of this site commited this simple error. Regarding my gravatar, so what if I accidentally uploaded my pic? Is that a big deal? I didn’t take time to read what gravatar is because I was just simply uploading my photo. It was not a credit card number or something very important.

    -There were two candidates who were more intelligent. It does not automatically mean more deserving. I may have voted a wrong candidate but I was apolitical that time. I would have voted for Gibo if only he didn’t have connections with GMA.

    BongV

    BongV Reply:

    yun lang basis mo for choosing a candidate? then call yourself intelligent? really? :) )

    Ozneh Reply:

    You’re one to talk. Having voted for Noynoy when there are at least two candidates more deserving doesn’t make your mind any greater than people who write in Antipinoy. On the other hand, it shows your limited reasoning and utter lack of decent judgment.

    -If you had the subject “Logic and Scientific Methods” in your class, you woud have failed the subject. What does Noynoy have to do with people’s intelligence? Do you mean that all these 15M people who voted for him are idiots? But correct use and choice of words give us an insight regarding who a person is. Nice display of your monkey intelligence. Well, I won’t be surprised if he uses those words even if he had GMRC subjects back then. He has no God. He was automatically deprived of everything.

    BongV

    BongV Reply:

    heck – you mean you can’t figure it out? lol – that affirms it – you don’t have intelligence :)))

    sure you can write english
    you can compute numbers

    just like any schmoe in Mcdonalds :) ))

    Ozneh Reply:

    yun lang basis mo for choosing a candidate? then call yourself intelligent? really? )

    -Birds of the same feather flock together.

    Tell me who your friends are and I will tell you who you are.

    BongV

    BongV Reply:

    yup…. a flock of yellowtards… they voted for the least evil – they voted to keep jobs low, wages low, commodities high, and want more entitlements – and they call themselves intelligent????

    a flock of DODOs :) ))

    Ozneh Reply:

    You’re judging me because of whom I voted? Perhaps I should also judge your intelligence for not believing in God. What do you expect, those who have no guidance don’t see the light. They should hate you more for denying His existence than someone who just voted for an incompetent president unless they want to join you in your Godless society.

    I also saw your comment about Japan being a stagnant economy. If my memory serves me right, you were blaming the system (or something like that). The reason for Japan’s economic stagnation is its changing demography. During her economic miracle, it was like a triangle with the youth at the base and the elderly at the peak. Now it has become an inverted triangle.

    BongV

    BongV Reply:

    oh… god na naman? another superstitious retard… hindi lang pala.. ekonomiya at politika ang pagka retard nito :) ))

    Ozneh Reply:

    “Superstition is a deviation of religious feeling and of the practices this feeling imposes. It can even affect the worship we offer the true God, e.g., when one attributes an importance in some way magical to certain practices otherwise lawful or necessary.”

    At bakil small letter g ang ginamit mo?

    Maging relevant ka naman sa mga sinasagot mo. Retard ka ng retard diyan eh tumingin ka lang sa salamin makikita mo na ang hinahanap mo. Yun na yun.

    BongV

    BongV Reply:

    ozneh – you don’t know what a relevant answer is – sure you can answer – but whether your answer is relevant or not – is another matter

    ang pinoy: aangal “ang hirap ng buhay”

    AP: bigyan ng solusyon “buksan ang ekonomiya”

    ang pinoy: “ay ang hirap, nakakatakot”

    AP: eh di magdusa ka tanga


NB. More comments at http://antipinoy.com/sal-saln-mo-bebe-the-continuing-travails-of-the-premature-prosecution/

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