Sen. Miriam Santiago slams prosecution team’s "bloopers" in Corona impeachment trial

ABS-CBNNews.com reports that on Tuesday, January 24, Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago "scolded the House impeachment prosecutors for coming unprepared during the fifth day of the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona."

The report revealed: "Speaking to ANC, Santiago noted that the House prosecution team failed to submit their memorandum on why Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Commissioner Kim Henares and other witnesses and evidence should be presented in the trial to support Article 2 of the Impeachment complaint against Corona."

In her ANC interview, Santiago pointed out: "Prosecution should have been ready with their memorandum. They know that when there is a contentious issue during and in the course of the trial, the normal habit is to submit memoranda."

She also added: "Dapat handa na sila kaya ako mabagsik sa prosecution [team] dahil sa tingin ko, hindi nila ina-anticipate. Hindi nila iniisip kung ano bang magiging kasunod. Kung batid na abugado yan, may trial brief kung ano ang gagawin niya (They should be ready. That’s why I’m being hard on the presecution team because I think they don’t anticipate anything. They don’t think about what’s going to come next. If you’re a lawyer, you should have a trial brief that will tell you what you’re going to do next)."

Santiago went on to enumerate the prosecution team’s other "bloopers." The report noted: "(Santiago) said the House prosecution team also failed to say how many witnesses they will present in the trial, which would have ruled out any surprise witnesses in the hearing. She chastised the prosecutors for asking the Senate impeachment court for a more liberal application of the rules in the trial. She said that as lawyers, ’you cannot make this kind of general request or appeals to your judge.’"

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