Jimeno: No conflict between defense membership, 2010 stand on midnight appointees

By MARK MERUEÑAS, GMA News

Published February 8, 2012 5:54pm

A defense lawyer of Chief Justice Renato Corona on Wednesday said she sees no "conflict of interest" in her participation in the impeachment trial and her signing in a 2010 statement of the University of the Philippines denouncing "midnight appointments" by then-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

At a press conference at the Senate, defense spokesperson Karen Jimeno confirmed that she indeed was among the 24 signatories in the Jan. 18, 2010 statement of the UP Law faculty members, titled: "Maintain Fealty to the Rule of Law: Let the Next President Appoint the Next Chief Justice."

Corona was earlier branded by critics as a midnight appointee because he was given the chief justice post in May 2010, within the election ban. Under Article VII, Section 15 of the 1987 Constitution, the President is barred from making appointments two months immediately before the next presidential elections and up to the end of his or her term.

However, the Supreme Court ultimately ruled that Mrs. Arroyo could appoint a replacement to then retiring Chief Justice Reynato Puno, saying the election ban does not apply to vacancies in the high court.

"We may not always agree with what the Supreme Court agrees on, pero as a lawyer you have to respect the SC and the rule of law," Jimeno told reporters.

She, however, maintained her "interpretation" of the specific constitutional provision on midnight appointments.

"That's my interpretation of the law. Noong binasa ko ang constitutional provisions on midnight appointments, kasama diyan ang judiciary," Jimeno said.

"And as a professor of law, iyan din ang view ko at sa tingin ko wala namang conflict doon," she added.

Jimeno likewise said that before she joined Corona's team, she informed the defense panel beforehand of her signing the 2010 statement.

"Sabi ko sa kanila [defense team], I signed that. Kung feeling nila damaging iyan sa image ng depensa, siguro hindi nila ako tatanggapin," Jimeno said.

She stressed that she joined the defense team in the impeachment trial not as a "private crusade for Corona" but as a protector of the Supreme Court.

"I think I'm just being very consistent and I'm just being objective," Jimeno added.

President Benigno Aquino III has never fully recognized the legitimacy of Corona, who was appointed by Mrs. Arroyo as chief justice a few weeks before she stepped down from office in 2010, barely a week after the elections where Aquino had emerged as the clear winner. In December last year, a total of 188 political allies of Aquino at the House of Representatives agreed to swiftly impeach Corona for alleged betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the Constitution and graft and corruption. — RSJ, GMA News

Tags: coronaimpeachment, karenjimeno