March 10, 2012 | Featured, Opinion, PerryScope
In a stinging setback for embattled Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona, the Senate sitting as an impeachment court junked on March 6 his motion to “suppress” the alleged illegally-obtained evidence by the House prosecution team against him. According to one senator, who asked to remain anonymous, the ruling was “unanimous.” However, absent in the caucus were Senators Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Manny Villar, and Aquilino Pimentel III.
Had the senator-judges ruled in favor of Corona’s motion, the prosecution team would have difficulty establishing an airtight case against Corona. But accepting the evidence wouldn’t necessarily mean that the Corona is headed for a conviction. The real battle has just begun.
Strong evidence
The question is: Is there “clear and convincing” evidence to convict Corona? To convict Corona, a minimum of two-thirds — or 16 — “guilty” votes are required while only eight votes would suffice to acquit him. The prosecution team’s challenge is how to convince eight senators who are inclined to vote for acquittal. And if these senators can claim that the prosecution team was unable to present “clear and convincing” evidence, then all is lost – Corona would emerge victorious.
Given the political nature of the impeachment trial, the prosecution team should – nay, must – not only present “clear and convincing” evidence to prove Corona’s guilt but also prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Corona is guilty as hell! The prosecutors should prove that he is not only guilty of culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust but is morally unfit to preside over a collegial body of 15 men and women whom the people have given the supreme – and absolute — power to protect the sanctity of the Constitution and the sovereignty of the people.
And this brings to fore the question: What kind of a man is Renato Corona?
“Asal-kalye”
Recently, columnist Raïssa Robles, in her article, “Even the dead blame Corona,”published a sworn affidavit of the late Pedro Aguilon (Mang Indo), which he executed on October 15, 1997 and notarized by a certain Atty. Andres P. Manuel Jr., when he was the caretaker of a building owned by the Basa-Guidote Enterprises Inc (BGEI). Mang Indo’s affidavit was confirmed by Anna Basa, daughter of the late Jose Maria Basa III, during an interview with Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI) last March 5.
Anna, a cousin of Corona’s wife Cristina, told PDI about the incident in 1997, to wit:“It happened when my father (Jose Maria Basa III) came here because he heard complaints from tenants of BGEI. We went to the property where BGEI was located. Mang Indo was a caretaker there. He let us into the property one evening. The Coronas got mad. Mang Indo said he was so scared that he did not want to file a case against Corona after the latter put a gun to his head. He feared that if he filed a case, Corona might kill him.
“The barangay captain was actually encouraging him to file a case but he was so afraid. He is not rich and does not have the means to do so.
“He just executed a sworn statement of what actually happened to him so that in the event that something really happened to him, at least people would know this experience he had.
“When Corona put a gun to his head, Corona said: Gusto mo bang pasabugin kong mukha mo (Do you want me to blast your face)? That’s what the Chief Justice said to him back in 1997 (showing to the Inquirer the original copy of Mang Indo’s sworn affidavit).
“At that time, Ana Basa said that Corona was already with Malacañang Palace, and I believe he was adviser for legal affairs for President (Fidel) Ramos. I know my father had written to President Ramos about our case, what’s been happening to us, and to GMA (President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo).”
Last March 8, Malacañang branded Corona of being “asal-kalye” or hoodlum. Indeed, Corona should be in the company of the likes of Asiong Salonga and others who used force to get what they wanted.
“Not morally qualified”
It is interesting to note that on December 8, 1997, Jose Maria Basa III wrote a scathing letter to the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC), which opposed the appointment of Corona for the position of Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. He said: “I believe that Mr. Renato Corona is not morally qualified to occupy a very noble position in the judiciary especially in the Supreme Court where the justices are selected for their intellectual prowess, uprightness, fairness and respect for the law.
“Mr. Renato Corona is my nephew for being the husband of Cristina Roco, daughter of my sister Asuncion Basa. Being his uncle, I should be happy about his nomination. But having known him personally, I took this opportunity to submit my opposition to his nomination and to save the Supreme Court from discredit and disrepute.”
Mr. Basa, who was then the majority stockholder of BGEI, narrated how Cristina with the aid of husband Renato illegally maneuvered to gain control of BGEI.
Gloria’s ascendancy
Corona did not get his Supreme Court appointment then. But things changed when then Vice President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ascended to the presidency in January 2001 when then President Joseph Estrada was ousted in a sham people power revolution.
In my article, “Corona’s Achilles heel” (December 28, 2011), I wrote: “When then-President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo named Mrs. Corona to the board of directors of JHMC on May 19, 2001, it was a plum appointment too good to refuse. The following year, Gloria appointed her husband, Renato Corona — Gloria’s former legal counsel, chief of staff and executive secretary during her vice presidency — as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. Then on April 12, 2007, Gloria appointed Mrs. Corona as Chairman of the JHMC Board. A year later, Mrs. Corona assumed the position of JHMC President concurrently. On May 17, 2010, despite the constitutional ban on ‘midnight appointments,’ Gloria appointed Corona to the post of Supreme Court Chief Justice. On July 10, 2010, Mrs. Corona resigned from her plum posts at JHMC.”
Vote of conscience
In my opinion, conviction of Corona hinges not only on the evidence presented by the prosecution team. Aside from convincing at least 16 senator-judges that Corona is factually guilty of Article 2, 3 or 7, the prosecutors must convince the senator-judges — some of who may be pre-disposed to acquit Corona for personal or political reasons – that he is morally unfit for the job. Five or six of them may already have made up their minds to acquit Corona regardless of the evidence. The people know who they are. However, there might be a few who might be swayed to convict him on moral grounds.
At the end of the day, the clincher would come down to Corona’s moral fiber. He must prove that he is at the apex of moral purity and the epitome of judicial wisdom.
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“The world suffers a lot. Not because of the violence of bad people, but because of the silence of good people!” – Napoleon
This whole impeachment trial is nothing more than a show of who can put out the best BS, from the prosecution to the defense and of course from the Senators serving as judges. If this sorry excuse for a Chief Justice ended up getting a free pass even with strong evidence against him, then our country may reach that point of no return. Sure, we will continue to exist as a nation but then it may be too late for our people to correct all the ills that is causing our country to fall deeper into the abyss of hopelessness. We used to be a nation with strong principles and ethics, now the people that took an oath to protect and defend the constitution and its people are the ones destroying it. I think the Filipino people are in for a rude awakening and this impeachment trial is going to be the real challenge of what we need to do regain those principles and of course our common sense. Let’s hope that all of us will be around to witness it.
Ne is not only morally unfit, he is also physically unfit. It is said that the eyes are the window to the soul. Look at Corona’s eyes, they look like the eyes of the king of the hot place. Sa Tagalog, mga mata ng isang taong hindi gagawa ng mabuti!
its very sad to know that the senator judges was merely fucos on how the dollar and peso account of cj corona leaks and why not look into it wether the money in his account is ill-gotten wealth or not.for me he is unfit to be a highest cj of the land.walang nagmamahal sa pilipinas.lahat ng nakaupo sa pwesto gusto lahat pagsamantalahan ang yaman ng bayan.
sino ba ang sumisira ng imahe ng napakagandang Pilipinas hindi ba yang mga nakaupo sa matataas na pwesto na matatas ang pinag-aralan?.Mga desenteng kasuotan meron sila sa likuran nun ay hubad na kawalanghiyaan at pagkasakim,ganid sa kapangyarihan at walang contentment sa kayamanan.i will do pray for my country na sana lumabas ang katotohanan upang makalaya tayo sa mga kahirapan dahil sa mga corrupt na mga tao.
Perry,
Needless to say, I missed your inputs and the articles by other journalists regarding our beloved Pilipinas. I am so glad to know that you are okay now and indeed back in circulation.
My only prayer now with this impeachment process, is that the senator judges will wake up to the fact that they are working for the Filipino people, and above all things, should work in the best interests of their bosses. This maybe the only chance we have to snowball the operation “Daang matuwid” launched by Pnoy. To the senator judges, please give the Filipino people a chance to rise from the ashes. The Philippines can be a great nation if allowed to prosper.
Thanks again, Perry
Isn’t he an infidel? Is he adulterous- a crime and therefore, a criminal, if indeed he has another woman with two other children? Esposo continud to say, “For Chief Justice Renato C. Corona not to mention his children with EVA as if they do not exist at all, is the highest form of ignominy and immorality that he can commit not only against his legitimate wife and family but against his oath as the highest magistrate of the land.”
50 years I heard, read and almost memorized all your comments and suggestions to stop corruption, immorality, selfish interest and all negative attitude of Pilipino leaders and politicians but nothing happened ever since. The reason I am no longer a Filipino by citizenship.
Hello Perry, welcome back. I’m very happy to know you are well and back in circulation. After several weeks without Global Balita. I became worried akala ko mababawasan ang connection ko sa bansang tinubuan. About Corona’s impeachment trial, whether or not he is convicted our beautiful country will continue to march among nations with, I am sure, diminish honor and dignity. I agree with many of the previous commnents that the Philippines is inhabited with too many buwayas–sagpang dini sagpang doon. Because these crocodiles have existed far too long, they have produced more and more sakim na buwaya. The very sad part of all these is that the crocodilian trait has been embedded too deeply in our culture that it now grows and propagates by themselves. We have far too many Coronas comfortably inhabiting our country that it would be next to impossible to properly eradicate them. Corona is a case in point. How can he be convicted even if the charges against him are true? He has got too much money to pay himself out of the mess. Does anyone out there believe that Corona would just sit tight and allow the process to convict him. He stole and rob the people blind for his protection, and now is the time to use that ill-gotten wealth. Mark my word–he will use every penny of what he had acquired to save his hide. I invite all to pray, pray hard that justice would be properly rendered for the benefit of our people. Again, Perry, welcome back. Best wishes to all.
Renato Corona is not morally fit to be the Chief Justice of the highest court of the land. Based from the recent interviews and news articles from the Basa family and also a recent news of Renato Corona fathering two illegitimate son, definitely does not qualify him to hold any office in the Supreme Court. If he is not convicted for sure GMA and Mike Arroyo will walk out free.
“At the end of the day, the clincher would come down to Corona’s moral fiber. He must prove that he is at the apex of moral purity and the epitome of judicial wisdom.”
For the sake of this country, I pray he gets impeached.
The Chief Justice is supposed to hold the highest moral position in the land. Without a doubt, he should be someone the people can trust. From day 1, when he accepted the appointment from GMA, despite the constitutional ban, I already knew him to be an indecent and unethical person. Had it been someone morally pure and judicially intelligent, he would’ve refused the appointment.
I just wish the Senator-Judges realize this. Otherwise, it is yet another reminder of how inept, and stupid, and corrupt our judicial system is. Truly exasperating.
Perhaps it’s time for the entire nation to wake up and put an end to this insanity. There’s no one to blame but the people themselves because they created these monsters. Either the Filipino people are completely blind or they are just having problem seeing the forest from the trees. Did’nt we at one time owned the title of being one of the most educated country in Asia? We have not really lost that title, what we’ve lost are our ability to use our common sense and our conscience. Just like those clowns that occupied the halls of congress, they are supposedly full of smarts and intellect but for whose benefit? Do we really think that this poor excuse for a Chief Justice really give a damn about our country? How about Mr. Enrile, he’s been in the business of politics for what seems to be an eternity, if he was really that concern about our country why are we constantly listed as one of the most corrupt nation in the world? And oh yes, let’s not forget about good old Miriam and the rest of those so called lawmakers, what have they really done to make the quality of life of all Filipinos any better? The last time I checked they are the only ones to be prospering. Is’nt it funny that most people who see the reality of what is truly happening to our country are the ones on the outside looking in. The Filipino people are the only ones that can make country once again to be a place fit to live with dignity and pride. We’ve been at the bottom of the barrel for so long, it’s time for us to rise once again, don’t you agree?
if your basis of impeaching or ousting someone is what you heard from a relative or from a neighbor, then no one is morally fit to hold a government post.
Gracious goodness, what kind of mentality do you all have???
Poking a gun to anyone whether to intimidate that person or otherwise, is unacceptable.
If these are all allegations and unfounded, then these are lies.
It is the defense turn to prove innocence on all counts against the accused and how the accused will respond to the charges.
The prosecutors, the defense, the accused and the senator-judges appeared
All MORALLY FIT to me. WOW! PHILIPPINES.
Whether the Impeachment Court convicts him or not, criminal charges MUST be filed against Corona (and the Arroyos).
The BIR has already started the ball rolling.
Money laundering charges, plundering charges, and other charges can be filed as insinuations of criminal activities by the Thief Justice have come out as a result of this Impeachment hearing.
In the unlikely event that the Impeachment Court acquits Corona the people may revolt and not wait for the criminal charges to be filed against him.