DUCKY PAREDES

'If, as he says, he loves his country, Corona should take the honorable way out and resign…’

IF there’s any doubt in the public mind that Chief Justice Renato Corona has single-handedly perverted the justice system in this country, PNoy’s speech before the Administration Coalition Caucus two days ago explains in detail Corona’s transgressions on the rule of law in this country,and gives insights into the impeachment complaint against Corona signed by 188 members of the House of Representatives on December 12.

PNoy reveals that, from the very beginning, he wanted reforms in the public service. His administration was determined to hold Gloria Macapagal Arroyo accountable for the corruption that ran rampant and grew endemic under her administration.

This he wanted to begin by setting up a Truth Commission. This first step towards ending impunity, however, was obstructed by the Supreme Court under Corona when it declared the Truth Commission as unconstitutional. And it didn’t even end there. Later, the Corona-led court blocked the impeachment case against former Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez.

But the last straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back was the issuance by the Corona-led court last November 15th of a TRO on the watch list order against the Arroyo couple, which would have allowed them to try to go abroad ostensibly to seek treatment for her medical condition. If the Immigration Bureau had not prevented them fromleaving upon the express instructions of Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, then GMA would now probably be basking in the sun in a ritzy resort in Spain or Portugal, rather than being kept under detention in a government hospital. And, the country and the administration would have been the laughing stock of Asia. What other country in the world is unable to keep those it charges with serious crimes from leaving the country?

The TRO approved by Corona and seven other GMA appointees, it should be stressed, was issued without even hearing the government side, or that of Gloria’s doctors. Apart from this, the TRO imposed several conditions, yet the Court made it immediately executory even without the conditions being met by Arroyo. In other words, Corona andcompany simply railroaded the TRO to allow GMA to escape prosecution.

Corona’s partiality to GMA is very evident as he enjoys a very close personal and professional association with her. In fact, his public career in the past decade or so is intimately linked with hers: he was her chief of staff when she was still vice president, and became her chief of staff, chief legal counsel and even acting executive secretary when she became president. And throwing all caution to the wind–and in the process reducing the Constitution to a mere scrap of paper–Arroyo appointed Corona as Chief Justice, a position that he holds, till now, to perpetrate the grossest injustices to the nation as a whole.

It is good that PNoy explained in detail how Corona’s one-sided decisions have impacted on the common tao. Take, for instance, the Court’s decision declaring 16 municipalities as cities. The SC flip-flopped on this case a number of times, leaving the affected towns much poorer as they had to deal with a much-reduced IRA. PNoy disclosed that San Fernando, Pampanga had to halt the construction of classrooms, while Puerto Princesa obtained P100 million less in IRA that could have gone to vital social services. Corona may not be aware of this, but this only goes to show that his decisions are based not on careful scrutiny of the facts, but on partisan considerations, with affected municipalitiesand cities unable to plan programs and projects that would benefit their constituents.

One also has to wonder how a Court can declare something right today, tomorrow and right again the day after? How much could have been the reasons for the strange way that the Court acted on this one case?

But, it’s not only for frequent flip-flopping that the Corona-led Supreme Court went wrong. Chief Justice Corona himself has not disclosed his own Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth as required by the Constitution. The impeachment complaint against him also reveals that he now owns a pricey property in upscale The Fort, where all of his neighbors are dollar billionaires!

He also had his wife appointed by GMA as CEO of a government-controlled corporation that operated the former Camp John Hay resort facility in Baguio City.

PNoy is right: "All this is a clear and blatant abuse of the power granted to him by the people. We are now going through a process to put a halt to a single magistrate’s continued discrediting of the sacred institution that is the Supreme Court: an institution that the people count on to be a place where fairness and blind justice reign. We refuse to have our children and our children’s children inherit a Supreme Court that is a den of corruption."

The House of Representatives has moved decisively and approved the impeachment complaint against Corona. It is now up to the Senate to decide whether Corona should be held accountable for the eight articles of impeachment. We can only hope our senators do what is fitting and proper -- cleanse the court of last resort and restore its credibility in the eyes of the people.

I support Deputy Speaker and Cavite Rep. Crispin Remulla’s call for Corona to resign to spare the nation a messy and lengthy impeachment trial. If, as he says, he loves his country, Corona should take the honorable way out and resign so that the Supreme Court can move forward toward the straight and narrow from which it has strayed.

THE reaction of Batangas Archbishop Ramon Arguelles to the fact that the President could not attend the installation of the new Archbishop of Manila Luis Antonio Tagle because PNoy had to be in Camp Aguinaldo for the change of commandceremonies of the military was certainly strange.

The Archbishop said that the President should have rescheduled the military event so he could attend the Manila Archbishop’s affair: "The installation of the archbishop of the prime archdiocese in the country is so important. It’s a national, an international event. The absence of the President for the very first time in the history of the Philippines was very conspicuous.

"He snubbed the most important religious group in the country. We are the third largest Catholic country in the world and this is probably the prime archdiocese of Asia. So, to snub that is really a big hurt."

Hasn’t the Archbishop heard of the separation of Church and State that our Constitution describes as being "inviolable"?

Whether or not the President is present should not bother anyone. In fact, it was when we had a Protestant President in the person of FVR that the President’s actions bothered me as a Catholic. The President then was taking communion and going to masses in a week much more often than I – a Catholic – would do in a month.

In reality, the less that Church and State have to do with one another, the better for the country. When they get too close, the bishops themselves suffer as what happened during the time of Gloria. It’s best that the two have an arm’s length relationship, andeven arm’s length may be too close for comfort, if either Church or State has designs on the other.

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Dear Mr. Paredes, In relation to your article below particularly on the TRO, I would like to add that Corona et al had willfully issued a TRO that ab initio should have been null and void. The contention of his spokesman, the man with the golden tongue is that the TRO is final and executory is designed to put De Lima under duress and intimidation to perform her duty. Another invalid and devious contention, is that, De Lima is violating the Constitution of an individual's right to travel guaranteed under the Constitution.

As a general rule, the issuance of the TRO and the contentions or allegations is valid under normal circumstances. In this case, the TRO and Midas' allegations are not valid because, the GMA issue does not fall under the general rule but on the exception to the rule. As lawyers, they know that for every rule, there is an exception. In this case they are blatantly invoking the general rule as if GMA is entitled to all her rights and even invoking Constitutionality to make it binding. But they pretend as if the right hand does not know, what the left hand is doing, as if they don't know that her case is an exception to the general rule and still proceeded with haste to issue a TRO that would have resulted to the GREAT ESCAPE. This is an unethical application of the law, bending and overextending it, the highest form of deceit.

The people are being deluded, how can we trust Corona without being betrayed again. Where is the integrity, the dignity, justice, etc. etc.? Where is the country headed to if there is no justice, no level playing field, where the wielder of the law are the subtle breaker of the law.

Thank you and more power to you.

Corona must go