Unbelievable

AS I WRECK THIS CHAIR
By William M. Esposo
The Philippine Star

Unbelievable is the best word to describe many of the recent pronouncements of impeached Supreme Court (SC) Chief Justice (CJ) Rene Corona’s supporters. Likewise unbelievable are many of the statements of CJ Corona, especially those that he made in his December 14 speech — which has all the smell and looks of an engineered political event.

Malabon Representative Toby Tiangco had asserted that President Noynoy Aquino (P-Noy) got 188 congressmen to sign the impeachment complaint against CJ Corona after the House leadership allegedly enforced a “sign with no question asked” tactic. Tiangco added drama to his assertions by resigning from the House majority.

Even if you don’t know the ins and outs of the congressional process that led to Corona’s impeachment, you can easily see that the congressmen were neither forced to sign nor disallowed to ask questions by looking at the roster of those who voted to impeach Corona. Bayan, whose associates in many front organizations of the Left have been P-Noy’s most unrelenting critics, supported the Corona impeachment.

The Bayan congressmen signed the impeachment complaint. One Bayan congressman, a very able lawyer — Neri Colmenares, was nominated to be one of the prosecutors in the Senate impeachment trial. There is no way P-Noy or his allies in Congress could coerce Bayan congressmen to sign the impeachment complaint, as alleged by Tiangco. If there was coercion, Bayan would have made a big issue out of it and it would have generated a more dramatic political theatre than what Tiangco demonstrated.

After making the biggest blunder of his life — leaving his lofty perch and rabble rousing like a traditional politician — CJ Corona stated many things that were simply unbelievable. The most unbelievable was the CJ’s claim that P-Noy was out to control the Judiciary and rule like a dictator.

Son of a martyr of democracy — Ninoy Aquino — and a champion of democracy — Cory — P-Noy’s every breath is dedicated towards strengthening Philippine democracy. Securing an honest Supreme Court that will serve the people with fair judgments is a vital cog in attaining P-Noy’s vision.

In his December 14 coming out party as a traditional politician, CJ Corona made it appear that his impeachment was a diversionary tactic to hide from the Filipino people P-Noy’s “mismanagement” of the economy and the government. The Pulse Asia survey on 2012 optimism debunks CJ Corona. The drop in unemployment (from 7.1 percent to 6.3 percent) to the lowest level in 4 years debunks Corona. The S & P credit upgrade (from stable to positive) debunks Corona. The attainment of rice sufficiency by 2013 debunks CJ Corona.

The fact that P-Noy’s highest poll approval rating comes from the Class E debunks CJ Corona. The Class E would be the hardest hit and would suffer the most if the economy plunged. For the Class E to be P-Noy’s biggest support base means that they they’re feeling improvements in their lives and they like what he is doing.

Since CJ Corona has joined P-Noy on the political stage, he must now figure out how to earn the sympathy of the Classes D and E. After the Class E, the Class D are P-Noy’s biggest supporters. The Classes D and E are also the most disillusioned when it comes to getting justice. They do not have the money to hire the top caliber lawyers that can get a case moving and win it.

It’s doubtful if even the likes of Ronnie Puno et al, GMA’s top operators, could even swing these folks to sympathize with CJ Corona. GMA’s media hacks will remain “loyal” for as long as the incentives are there but their inputs — tirades against P-Noy — to the public mind will be insignificant. Once you’ve earned the esteem, trust and confidence of those from the Class D and Class E, they tend to be the most loyal. Their loyalty to former president Joseph “Erap” Estrada is a good example.

Unbelievable too is this tale of detained former Comelec (Commission on Elections) Chairman Ben Abalos that Judge Jesus Mupas of the Pasay City RTC (Regional Trial Court), who is trying his case, sent emissaries in order to extort P100 million from him. This tale of Abalos received the same level of doubt Filipinos had when Elena B. Horn, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA) spokesperson, announced a plot to put GMA to sleep.

Your Chair Wrecker sees two possible angles in this extortion claim. One: Abalos is forum shopping, hoping that his case will land in the sala of a sympathetic judge. The other angle is that this extortion claim is aimed at discrediting Judge Mupas (The only bad mark on Judge Mupas’ record was a delayed submission of a document.) for the benefit of both Abalos and GMA. If the extortion claim resonates, GMA can also ask for a “better” judge to try her case. Abalos’ tale was so ridiculous that the DoJ (Department of Justice) will not even bother to look into it.

Because of the big distrust for GMA — the problem of her allies, protectors, defenders and spokespersons is that most Filipinos consider everything they say as unbelievable. They made the mistake of confronting one of the most trusted presidents the country has ever had. P-Noy even topped his mother’s trust ratings when she was president.

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Chair Wrecker e-mail and website: macesposo@yahoo.com and www.chairwrecker.com