The Supreme Court (SC) has dismissed as moot the petition of former Chief Justice Renato Corona which sought the nullification of the impeachment complaint filed against him by the 188 members of the House of Representatives and the trial conducted by the Senate.
The high tribunal, voting 13-0, said the constitutional issues raised by Corona “had been mooted by supervening events and his own acts.”
The decision was penned by Associate Justice Martin Villarama Jr. Associate Justice Presbitero Velasco Jr. did not take part in the deliberations while Associate Justice Arturo Brion was on leave.
Corona was convicted by the Senate impeachment court for culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust on May 29.
The SC noted that Corona immediately accepted the verdict and without any protest vacated his office.
The Judicial and Bar Council is currently interviewing nominees for the post of Chief Justice.
“An issue or a case becomes moot and academic when it ceases to present a justiciable controversy so that a determination thereof would be without practical use and value. In such cases, there is no actual substantial relief to which the petitioner would be entitled to and which would be negated by the dismissal of the petition,” the high court said.
In his petition, Corona argued that the impeachment complaint against him was “constitutionally infirm” and “defective.”
He said there was grave abuse of discretion also when the impeachment court did not strike out the charges discussed in Article II of the complaint which, aside from being a “hodge-podge” of multiple charges, do not constitute allegations in law, much less ultimate facts, being all premised on suspicion and/or hearsay.
Corona also argued that the impeachment court abused its discretion when it allowed the presentation of evidence on charges of alleged corruption and unexplained wealth which violates petitioner’s right to due process because first, Article II of the complaint did not mention “graft and corruption,” and second, it was clear under Section 2, Article XI of the Constitution that “graft and corruption” is a separate and distinct ground from “culpable violation of the Constitution” and “betrayal of public trust.”
Likewise, Corona questioned the issuance of subpoena for the production of his alleged bank accounts as requested by the prosecution despite the same being the result of an illegal act considering that those documents submitted by the prosecution violates the absolute confidentiality of such accounts under Section 8 of Republic Act 6426, or the Foreign Currency Deposits Act, which is also penalized under Section 10 thereof.                                  PNA