MANILA, Philippines - The 10 other Supreme Court justices appointed by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo – aside from Chief Justice Renato Corona and Justice Mariano del Castillo – may also be impeached, Palace spokesman Edwin Lacierda yesterday said.
He said the process of finding basis for the impeachment of the justices would be left to the House ofRepresentatives.
Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas Jr. said probable cause for impeachment had been found against two justices whom he declined to identify.
The first article of impeachment against Corona states that he had shown “partiality” towards Arroyo when he voted 19 times in her favor on petitions involving presidential policies.
Lacierda said the other justices, whom he also did not name, “legitimized” Corona’s midnight appointment when they upheld his appointment in May 2010 despite the prohibition on new appointments two months before the general elections.
In June 2010, nine SC justices voted in favor of Corona’s appointment. One of them, now Ombudsman Justice Conchita Carpio-Morales, dissented; three others abstained from voting, while two others ruled that the petition was “premature.”
The three who abstained were contenders to the position: Corona, senior Justice Antonio Carpio, and retired Chief Justice Reynato Puno. The two who said that the petition was “premature” were retired Justice Antonio Nachura and incumbent Justice Presbitero Velasco Jr.
Carpio, who was hoping to be the next chief jurist, had a falling out with the Arroyos.
The nine justices who upheld Corona’s appointment were Del Castillo (whose impeachment for plagiarism has been shelved), Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, Diosdado Peralta, Arturo Brion, Roberto Abad, Jose Mendoza, Jose Perez, Martin Villarama Jr., and Lucas Bersamin.
At present, President Aquino only has three appointees in the 15-man high tribunal: Justices Maria Lourdes Aranal-Sereno, Bienvenido Reyes and Estela Perlas-Bernabe.
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