2012-02-01T01:02:00.000-08:00

Presiding Judge Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile

Lead defense Lawyer SC Ass. Justice Serafin Cuevas

The burden of proof (Latin: onus probandi) is the obligation to shift the accepted conclusion away from an oppositional opinion to one's own position. The burden of proof is often associated with the Latin maxim semper necessitas probandi incumbit ei qui agit (the necessity of proof always lies with the person who lays charges). (Wikipedia) This is a statement of a version of the presumption of innocence that underpins the assessment of evidence in some legal systems, and is not a general statement of when one takes on the burden of proof.

Chief Justice Renato C. Corona

Proof is truth; as most of the time, especially in court trial, in order to find truth we need proof. And truth is closely related to goodness, to facts, to light, to a person; as Jesus Christ, the son of God said, "I am the way, the truth, and the light". Moreover, one of the names of God is Absolute Truth; and our longing for truth is actually our longing for Him.

Generally, we are all looking for truth; and in the impeachment trial of a Supreme Court Chief Justice (Renato C. Corona), the people of the Philippines are watching and waiting to see the truth.

Defense Attorney Karen Jimeno

In this article, the word burden of the phrase "burden of truth" refers to the load, the difficulty, the trouble or the weight carried by the truth itself. This is not about duty and responsibility of parties in court trials to prove their accusations or innocence, although this article is about an impeachment trial being held in Philippine Senate.

The Burden of truth is falsehood or lie. It is said that Mother Earth can easily carry all the weight of the world but find it hard to bear the weight of one person who is a liar.

Congressman Prosecutor Niel Tupas jr

To protect one's life and property, lies are justifiable, forgivable, accepted, allowed; but lies of a thief, of an offender are not. Lawyers, as the term imply, are supposedly servants of law, of truth, of justice; not of crooks, thieves, money, politicians, fame, patrons or any person. And politicians are public servants, not tyrants, thieves, clowns, cronies, and stinky political animals.

Senator Judge Mirriam Santiago

For fairness and justice, and for presumption of innocence, who do you think among the parties involved in the Corona impeachment (the prosecutors, the accused and the defense lawyers, the witnesses, the senator judges, the media) is/are The Burdens of Truth?

Former Graft Buster Sen. Judge Joker Arroyo