When the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona resumes next week, Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson will push for ways to hasten the proceedings without sacrificing due process, as he noted many unnecessary legal objections are weighing down the trial. 

Lacson said that during the first week of the impeachment trial, the Senate as an impeachment court was consistently bogged down by so many objections on the floor that accomplish “nothing except a delay in the trial.”

“I intend to manifest next week before my co-jurors this observation, with the sole purpose of expediting the trial while preserving due process. There must be a balance between the two concerns and we must find that balance,” Lacson said.

The Senate acting as an impeachment court resumes its hearings on Jan. 24.

Lacson said that while the trial in the Senate is not even a criminal proceeding but an impeachment trial, “we’re consistently bogged down by so many objections on the floor that accomplish nothing except a delay in the trial.”

“While I’m not necessarily a stranger to court proceedings having quite a long experience appearing as a witness in the many criminal cases that I filed when I was still in the law enforcement service, I am now beginning to understand why it is impossible for justice to be rendered swiftly and fairly,” he said.

In many cases, he said a poor litigant will quit after exhausting whatever little savings he has when confronted in court by so many legal technicalities that delay his quest for justice.

“Now I understand why poor litigants seek justice elsewhere outside the courtroom, either by putting the law in their own hands to settle the score against a rich and powerful respondent, or turn to the New People’s Army’s kangaroo court,” he said.

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