Corona strikes back

BY DUCKY PAREDES
MALAYA

‘Corona’s impeachment will, I hope, pave the way for a top-to-bottom revamp of the Supreme Court and the judiciary.’

CHIEF Justice Renato Corona tried to rally public opinion to his side with a virtual declaration of war against the Aquino administration during his televised address in front of the Supreme Court last Wednesday afternoon. He misses the point; it is not PNoy mad at the SC; it is the people mad at Corona, who seems to represent all that is awful about our Courts.

Was he effective? For someone who claims to be a Batangueño, his Pilipino is really bad and if one will effectively take on PNoy, one has to do it in Tagalog, the more eloquently, the better!

There was a crowd but did the gathered crowd go there on their own, or were they forced? I don’t really know. Most of the Court employees all over the country say that the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA) sent out a notice that the day was a holiday declared by the OCA so they could listen to Corona. A text message informed me that the president of the Philippine Judges Association, a certain Judge Eugenio, instructed fellow judges and court employees to troop to the Supreme Court to lend support to Corona.

So, what did Corona accomplish? Not much. He asks: “Does President Aquino want someone as Chief Justice who will bend to his every wish?” Wrong question. What we don’t want is an SC whose allegiance is not necessarily to our constitution.

He should have answered the assertion that he is a midnight appointee of Gloria Arroyo who, at the time that the Corona appointment was made should already have been strictly following Article VII, Section 15 of the 1987 Constitution: “Two months immediately before the next presidential election, a President or Acting President shall not make appointments, except temporary appointments, to executive positions when continued vacancies therein will prejudice public service or endanger public safety.”

A Court of Appeals Justice explained to me that judicial appointments do not fall under this because appointments of justices and judges first pass though the judicial and bar council (JBC). So? Just where does it say in the Constitution that going thorough the JBC, exempts appointees from Article VII, Section 15?

It occurs to me that while the justices can rewrite the Constitution by interpreting it every which way (as when the Court in 1992 made judges’ and justices’ Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth private documents that must be kept from the people even as these are filed precisely so that we can be assured that all our officials – judges and justices included — are living within their means), a judicial impeachment could allow our Senate to change back whatever violence the Courts have done to our Constitution.

Corona also disputed the allegation that he has not submitted his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth as required by law. He simply denied the allegation, but did not offer concrete proof that he did submit his SALN (which had been shielded from public view since 1992). He could have scored a propaganda coup by showing to the crowd copies of his SALN year by year from say, 2001, and offer them up for examination.

The impeachment complaint says that Corona now owns a condominium unit in the Fort that’s easily worth tens of millions of pesos. Did he pay for this pricey property out of his lawful earnings as Chief Justice? He didn’t tell us. Remember that he also stands accused of dipping his fingers in judiciary funds amounting to hundreds of millions of pesos. Certainly, his SALNs could become a major part of the defense at his impeachment trial.

The constant refrain in Corona’s rabble-rousing speech was that President Aquino has irreparably damaged Philippine democracy by criticizing him openly for bias and partiality towards Arroyo, who appointed him Chief Justice, contrary to law.

Why can’t the Chief Justice see that our Congressmen and our President are actually strengthening our democracy by going after a justice who holds himself above the Law and even our Constitution? Chief Justices, Presidents, Senators and others in powerful positions in a Democracy ought to have the humility to regard themselves as beholden to the Constitution and not the other way around.

A Chief Justice bereft of impartiality and objectivity and solely focused on keeping his benefactor and patron out of jail is a grave, present and real danger to Philippine democracy because he blatantly disregards the Constitution and the rule of law. If the impeachment process were delayed, would the SC have next ruled that the joint investigation by the Justice Department and the Commission on Elections (Comelec) was improper and illegal?

Corona’s impeachment is part and parcel of the necessary process to restore public trust and confidence in the Supreme Court and the entire judiciary. It may be what is needed to get us all to believe again in the SC. I must agree with former Akbayan representative Risa Hontiveros who says that “we want to rebuild the Supreme Court, not destroy it.”

Corona’s impeachment will, I hope, pave the way for a top-to-bottom revamp of the Supreme Court and the judiciary. Hopefully, some of our crooked judges will simply quit when the spotlight gets too hot. Then, perhaps, we can again return to having an independent and fair judicial system.

Sen. Serge Osmeña advises Corona to resign now to save himself from embarrassment. “Corona as CJ is in a no-win situation. An impeachment is a political exercise. Even if Corona wins with the other side not getting the 2/3 vote, he is damaged. How can he continue to serve as Chief Justice?”

Osmeña is right; but does Corona even care as long as he can keep his post?

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Capitol Hills Golf & Country Club, now managed by Ayala whose Ayala Hillsides is inside the golf course, had its very first Chairman’s Cup. John Bengzon is the chairman and president of Capitol and has already made marked improvements on the course.

The ready acceptance by Capitol’s members of the Ayala management is shown by the unexpected participation of about 170 players with many more being turned away on the day itself. As a par 62 course, with most holes being par 3 with a smattering of par 4s, the waiting between holes was really bad. But, most participants enjoyed their game, anyway. It helped that the weather was overcast. Perfect golf weather!

It was, after all, the first event ever, over a couple of years and, we members hope, only the first of many more tournaments, fun games and other events under Ayala’s management that began just sometime this year.

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