A threat to all of us

To the Point

A threat to all of us

By Emil Jurado

A day before the defense panel in the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona started presenting its witnesses, President Benigno Aquino III said that the only acceptable outcome of the trial is conviction.

Never mind what the defense would say to rebut allegations that Corona committed culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayed public trust. Never mind, too, that the rule of law dictates that a person is presumed innocent until proven otherwise.

What exactly did Mr. Aquino mean when he said he sees only the conviction of Corona? Did he mean that he would do everything in his power to get Corona convicted?

This threat sends chills down my spine. It is a threat to the senator-judges, to the impeachment court itself, and most of all to all Filipinos who know we are still under a republican system of government with three co-equals, independent branches.

Now comes House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte issuing his own threat, on behalf of his master, President Aquino, that Navotas Rep. Tobias Tiangco would be expelled from the House if he testifies for the defense. Tiangco had earlier said that he did not sign the articles of impeachment because they were hastily crafted.

Belmonte has also threatened Batangas Rep. Hermilando Mandanas with the same. The logic is that the Tiangco and Mandanas testimonies could malign the integrity, probity and respectability of the House of Representatives.

Excuse me, Mr. Speaker, but what integrity are you talking about?

Others who did not sign were Cavite Rep. Crispin Remulla and even prosecutor Ilocos Norte Rep. Rudy Fariñas. Fariñas has said that the articles of impeachment were prepared in haste.

I have respected Belmonte all these years. I have gone on record supporting him in his advocacies. But not anymore — not after he has become a lackey of the President. The House Speaker has lost his independence, making the entire House of Representatives subservient to Malacañang.

The only threat that made sense was Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile’s. Enrile said that senator-judges must respect the chief justice if the latter takes the witness stand.

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Now come Ana Basa and a 90-year-old Franciscan nun, Sister Flory, saying that they were oppressed by the Coronas. The chief justice’s wife, Mrs. Cristina Corona, is a relative of theirs. They are still mired in an inheritance case which is still pending.

Wow, the timing of these relatives is perfect!

Still, the defense will have to explain why Corona did not declare some P31 million in peso bank accounts, and even his dollar accounts, which the PSBank president claimed existed, complete with account numbers. This is so since the impeachment court has rules that the accounts really existed despite being “the fruit of a poisonous tree.”

Indeed the main issue here is the veracity and authenticity of Corona’s SALN.

All the others — that temporary restraining order he issued on the Justice Department’s watch list order as it pertained to former President Arroyo, for instance — are weak.

I believe this is why Malacañang and its lapdogs have launched a campaign before the bar of public opinion against Corona. Now congressmen are even going house to house in their respective districts to tell people that Corona is not morally and legally fit to remain in his post.

Indeed, President Aquino’s fixation on Mrs. Arroyo and her perceived allies will have a lot of weight on how the 23 senators would decide. But at the end of the day, it would be the political interests of the senator-judges that would determine the fate of the chief justice. Impeachment is truly political in nature.

I am sure the President’s credibility and popularity would soon decrease.

Of course President Aquino cannot afford to see Corona acquitted. He knows what the consequences would be.