For the first time, Chief Justice Renato Corona took the witness stand in the impeachment trial at the Senate on Tuesday, May 22, 2012. He delivered a three-hour long opening statement to deny allegations hurled against him.
Corona denied he had so much properties and that he owns 82 dollar accounts as alleged by the Ombudsman. He said he only had four dollar accounts as of December 2011.
Emotional, the Chief Justice signed a waiver allowing the public disclosure of his dollar accounts, but he said he will only submit the waiver if all 188 congressmen who signed in the impeachment complaint as well as Senator Frank Drilon, who he accused of getting biased, have “signed their own waivers.”
To the surprise of senator-judges, the prosecution and defense panels and everyone else watching, Corona suddenly stood up and left the session hall.
Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile ordered all Senate entry points locked. “With all due respect to the chief justice, we have not yet discharged him!” the Senate President said.
Corona’s son-in-law Dr. Jojo Castillo revealed that the Chief Justice had a “hypoglycemic episode,” also known as an insulin reaction or blood sugar low.
“My father-in-law has diabetes and he wasn’t able to take his lunch. He mentioned blurring vision at the end of his testimony,” Castillo told reporters.
Video credit: YouTube/TV5
