February 21, 2012 - "Falsus in unum, falsus in omnibus." Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago pointed this out on Tuesday to the prosecution panel in the Corona impeachment trial. In English, the phrase means "false in one, false in all."

Santiago was flashing a stern warning about the prosecution's tendency to present evidence that may not have been properly obtained, or contained inconsistencies or discrepancies, as in the instances of the alleged records pertaining to the deposits of Chief Justice Renato Corona at Philippine Savings Bank.

Senator Santiago was also referring to the prosecution's presentation of leaked bank documents as evidence. Her warning comes at a juncture where a single misstep by the prosecution in presenting evidence might result in jeopardizing its entire case due to technicality issues.

In a related development, Renato Emerald, National Bureau of Investigation Deputy Director for Technical Services, said that the NBI is prepared to conduct a forensic examination on allegedly tampered photocopies of Philippine Savings Bank records attributed to Chief Justice Renato, even as he clarified that his agency has not yet received any such request or order from the Senate sitting as impeachment court.

Emerald said that his office will comply appropriately if called upon to conduct the examination by the Senate. He disclosed that NBI forensic experts can provide a conclusive finding on the qualitative attributes of the evidence if they are furnished a copy of the original document as reference.

ACL / Reportage from Camellia Elemia and Albert Alicer