Corona no longer surprised by defaced Wikipedia entry

MARK MERUEÑAS
GMA News

Chief Justice Renato Corona has admitted that he is no longer surprised by reports that an entry on a free online encyclopedia about him was defaced to lampoon him, even referring to him as a “thief justice.”

Without identifying who he thinks could be behind the vandalization of the Wikipedia page about him, Corona said he has an idea who might be the culprit.

“We know where these things are coming from. Kaya huwag ka nang magtaka,” Corona told GMA News Online in a text message.

The page history of the Wikipedia entry on chief Justice Corona, showing the recent vandalism attempt.

On the defaced Wikipedia entry, Corona’s position of “Chief Justice” was replaced with “Thief Justice,” and his appointment was called “illegal” for being handed down during the period of a constitutional ban on appointments.

The Wikipedia entry also said, “the people are hoping for his impeachment at the senate [sic] impeachment trial.”

The vandalized entry went as far as demeaning Supreme Court spokesman and court administrator Midas Marquez as well.

“Rumors are circulating that the Supreme Court Administrator — “Midas Marquez” is having intimate relationship with the Chief Justice…,” the entry said.

Wikipedia is open to editing by the public, and no sign-up or login is required to make changes in entries. However, the site is constantly policed by members and vandalism is often removed as soon as it is spotted.

Based on Wikipedia’s page history, the vandalism was carried out by user “112.201.91.183″ at “15:50″ on Jan. 3. The page’s history shows that the page was corrected at “15:53″ or more than four hours after it was vandalized.

Not the first time

It was not the first time that Corona had been publicly lampooned. In November, protesters gathered outside the Supreme Court building along Padre Faura in Manila and held up posters with Corona’s face and the words “No to CoronArroyo” below it.

The group staged the protest simultaneously as magistrated held oral arguments on the validity of the watch list order against former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who appointed Corona as chief justice in May 2010.

Corona, who is among 12 Arroyo-appointed magistrates who currently make up the high court, is accused of being biased in favor of Mrs. Arroyo and voting for decisions benefitting the former chief executive.

Corona once served as Mrs. Arroyo’s spokesman and chief of staff when the latter was still vice president. When Mrs. Arroyo was catapulted to the presidency in 2001, Corona then assumed various posts — presidential chief of staff, presidential spokesperson, and acting executive secretary.

A total of 188 political allies of President Benigno Aquino III at the House of Representatives agreed to swiftly impeach Corona last December 12 for alleged betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the Constitution and graft and corruption.

Aquino has never fully recognized the legitimacy of Corona, who was appointed by Mrs. Arroyo as chief justice a few weeks before she stepped down from office in 2010, barely a week after the elections where Aquino had emerged as the clear winner.

Meanwhile, Marquez earlier suffered online taunting when a video of his startling reaction to a microphone that he accidentally bumped off the podium suddenly went viral, eliciting remarks that he was homosexual.

Marquez has since denied being gay. — RSJ, GMA News