PNoy meeting with Revilla smacks of impropriety: law dean

MANILA - A legal expert believes President Aquino's meeting with Sen. Bong Revilla during the Corona impeachment trial smacks of impropriety. Attorney Soledad Mawis, dean of the Lyceum College of Law, said Aquino should not have approached Revilla at the time of the trial since the senator was acting as a judge. She said if the former Chief Justice had been the one who invited Revilla to a meeting, it would also be seen as inappropriate. "Yun nga lang po kumatok kayo sa kwarto ng hukom na wala yun kalaban na abogado, may sense of impropriety....lalo na yun nililitis Chief Justice of the Philppines. Kung kami ngang abogado bawal, paano pa kaya po yun matataas ang tungkulin," she said in an interview on ABS-CBN's Umagang Kay Ganda. "In fact may provision tayo sa Article 214 of the Revised Penal Code, any executive officer who orders a judicial authority to act in a certain way, can be criminally liable," she added. She said the same lack of impropriety would be seen if the positions were reversed and it was the Chief Justice who met with senators. "Kung si Chief Justice ang nagimbita sa mga taong ito, hindi po ba pangit tingnan?" she asked. Revilla on Monday denied benefiting from the P10 billion pork barrel scam and said the allegations are part of a Palace plan to discredit political enemies. [DENIED BENEFITING - http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/01/20/14/bong-revilla-i-have-nothing-do-pork-scam] The senator denied confirming documents that said he allocated millions of pesos of his priority development assistance funds to fake non-government organizations linked to Janet Lim Napoles. He also revealed that President Aquino tried to meddle in the impeachment trial of former Chief Justice Renato Corona by asking him to convict Corona. He said Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas brought him to Malacanang for a meeting with Aquino and Budget Secretary Butch Abad. It was during this meeting that the President allegedly asked him to vote to convict Corona. Both Aquino and Roxas confirmed the meeting had occurred but denied that the Palace pressured the senator to vote for Corona's conviction. [CONFIRMED - http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/01/20/14/pnoy-mar-twit-bong]