AGENCIES

MANILA THE Senate is set to resume on Monday the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona amid a parallel pressure coming from no less than President Aquino for the magistrate to explain his alleged $10-million bank account now being investigated by the Ombudsman.

The President, who has been openly campaigning for the removal of Corona, said on Sunday the Chief Justice had “no choice” but speak up on the allegation.

“The minute he doesn’t explain it, the presumption (that it is) ill-gotten wealth remains,” Aquino told reporters at the sidelines of the 70th commemoration of the Fall of Bataan in Corregidor.

The President said keeping mum on the allegation could not be an option for Corona.

“That is the law and he is the chief magistrate. Perhaps, he should be the first one to comply,” he said, but admitted he was relying only on media reports on the allegedly $10-million account.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported on the Ombudsman investigation shortly after the Supreme Court ruled with finality on the Hacienda Luisita, a vast sugar estate owned by the President’s family. The Supreme Court ordered the distribution of nearly 5,000 hectares to farmers using 1989 land valuation.

Corona flatly denied the existence of a $10-million bank account and alleged that the investigation was meant to get back at him for the Hacienda Luisita ruling.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said the Ombudsman could conduct a separate investigation on Corona despite the ongoing impeachment proceedings.

“(The investigations) can be simultaneous,” he said in Filipino in a radio interview with DZBB, noting that the Ombudsman could prosecute “people, including impeachable officers, if they violate the law.”