by Rey E. Requejo and Joyce Pangco Pañares
CHIEF Justice Renato Corona said Wednesday that President Benigno Aquino III pushed for his impeachment because he opposed the P10-billion compensation that Mr. Aquino’s family had wanted to distribute the Hacienda Luisita estate to farmers, but the Palace said it was Corona’s “lapdog loyalty” to former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo that got him into trouble.
In a television interview over the GMA 7 network, Corona said he strongly opposed Hacienda Luisita Inc.’s demand to obtain P10 billion as compensation for distributing the family-owned sugar estate under the land reform program.
“I was the one who blocked that and for them to get that amount, they would have to cut my head off and remove me,” Corona said.
“That’s the truth. That’s the root cause of this impeachment. If you ask me now why they want me out, I think it’s because I blocked that demand for the P10-billion compensation for Hacienda Luisita.”
A group of farmer beneficiaries on Wednesday slammed the President’s family for delaying the land distribution.
“We have reached the end of our patience with [Hacienda Luisita]. We have waited long enough and we remain the Cojuangcos’ slaves on the land that we own,” said Ambala chairman Felix Nacpil Jr.
“The Cojuangco and Aquino families are greedy. We should have gained possession of the land in 1967, but we are still waiting after five decades.”
Corona earlier said President Aquino took issue with the high court’s unanimous ruling in November 2011 to distribute 4,915.75 hectares in the Tarlac sugar estate to over 6,000 farm workers.
His swift impeachment in the House of Representatives came barely a month after the Supreme Court handed down that order.
Corona also lambasted the Aquino administration for putting too much attention on its bid to oust him.
“It would be better if we think of the welfare of our people. The situation of the Philippines is worsening in terms of unemployment, poverty, [and rising] gas prices,” Corona said.
“We should put our attention on these pressing concerns. It is not good governance if we fight. It would be better if we were at peace and our government agencies worked together.”
Corona was among the justices who voted to recall the high court’s earlier decision that gave the sugar estate’s owners the option to distribute stocks instead of land.
Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said it was Corona’s loyalty to Mrs. Arroyo that ensured the filing of the impeachment case against him.
“It’s not about Hacienda Luisita. It’s about his lapdog loyalty to the former President,” he said.
He said he didn’t think the Supreme Court would be strengthened by Corona’s acquittal. He dared the justices to lift the ruling barring the Court’s employees from testifying at the impeachment trial.
Senator-judge Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said the public pronouncements by Mr. Aquino and the chief justice only served to muddle the issues surrounding the impeachment trial.
He told reporters that what Mr. Aquino had said against Corona on several occasions only tended to confuse the people.
“It muddies the water about what is in fact the evidence being presented in court,” Marcos said.
“I don’t know what the purpose is because the senator-judges are very, very focused on what is going on during the trial.”
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