Correcting an injustice

BY ANTONIO CONTRERAS          JUNE 04, 2019

AT the annual conference of the Philippine Political Science Association (PPSA) recently held at Clark, noted American political scientist Professor Mark Thompson, who was the keynote speaker, made a passing mention of a so-called “very corrupt” chief justice who was impeached during the presidency of Noynoy Aquino. He was obviously referring to the late Chief Justice Renato Corona. This so provoked me that I had to express my dissent in a comment in the live feed that was simultaneously being aired on social media. Had it not been a keynote address where tradition dictates that no questions are fielded from the floor, I would have stood up to openly contest the speaker’s claim. Fortunately, Professor Thompson took notice of my comment and clarified to me in person during the break that he was not personally making that claim, but that it should have been in “quotes” as he was simply relating the dominant representation of the late Chief Justice.

While I accepted Professor Thompson’s explanation, I am still deeply saddened that until now, this incorrect image of Chief Justice Corona continues to be propagated. Quotation marks notwithstanding, the claim remains as a blight that needs to be excised for it is simply unjust for a man who has not done anything to earn the label of being “very corrupt.” It pains me to ponder on the fact that while we focus on the alleged corruption of Chief Justice Corona, who even the impeachment trial failed to prove to have unjustly amassed wealth from public coffers, we gloss over the palpable corruption of those who endeavored to convict and remove him.

The PPSA conference had the theme “Rethinking Liberalism.” Yet what predominated in it were the teeth-gnashing and intellectual lamentations over how leaders like President Rodrigo Duterte and the Marcoses, and those who thrive in their templates and molds, with labels ranging from the conventional fascist to the more academically esoteric penal populist, have eroded and compromised liberalism and democracy.

However, nowhere in this discursive landscape can we find any indictment of the actions of Noynoy Aquino who, in pursuit of his family’s economic interests in Hacienda Luisita, mobilized his lieutenants in the House and exacted revenge on Chief Justice Corona by impeaching him. In the Senate, it is now well known that Aquino mobilized the DAP funds to amply reward the senators who voted to convict Corona. There are no intellectual ruminations from scholars labeling such acts as assaults on the much-lamented construct of liberal democracy which they believe has been so tarnished by the Marcoses and Dutertes of this world. No scholar is referring to Noynoy Aquino with academic-sounding labels denoting illiberalism, despite the fact that he also corrupted and assaulted liberalism when he used his presidential authority — even authorizing the disbursement of public funds through the DAP — to influence the process of removing a sitting chief justice who presided over a court that ruled against his family’s interests.

Corruption is the use of public funds to pursue personal gain. It behooves us to ask how the Yellow brand of politics and its enablers in academe could not have the courage and energy to label what Aquino did to Renato Corona as a corrupt act that seriously undermined liberal democracy, on the same level as their focusing their energies on exposing Imee Marcos’ alleged acts of dishonesty with respect to her academic credentials.

One can only take comfort in the thought that somehow the rules of karma have exacted revenge on behalf of Corona. Maria Lourdes Sereno fell victim to the lowering of the threshold for impeachable offenses, which was used against Corona, where nonfiling of or faulty statements of assets, liabilities and net worth is now a ground for removal from office of an impeachable official. Former ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales haughtily waved in front of the impeachment court documents purportedly showing evidence of Corona’s alleged unexplained wealth in his bank accounts, but which now everyone knows to have been simply a testament to her ignorance in not knowing how to read a record of deposits and withdrawals. This falsehood, for which she never ever apologized, helped cement in the minds of many that Corona must have been “very corrupt.” It enabled the institutions of the State to legitimize his unwarranted removal. Recently, Carpio-Morales’ turn to face karmic justice came, when she was deemed a security threat and denied entry by Hong Kong immigration authorities. Loudly protesting such injustice, the lady must have forgotten how she played a part in the injustice that an irrationally illiberal Aquino state inflicted on Renato Corona, who suffered a fate worse than not being able to visit Disneyland. Corona died a broken man. Even after death, he continues to suffer the pain of being labeled a “very corrupt” Chief Justice even in academic conferences.

While some can derive pleasure from the misfortunes of Sereno and Carpio-Morales, these are things that are not only petty, but also do not correct the injustice. Rescinding and reversing the conviction may be ideal, but also technically difficult. Retired Associate Justice Arturo Brion has called for some rectification of the injustice done to Renato Corona in the form of at least enabling his family to receive his retirement benefits, a move which some House representatives support.

Perhaps, returning Senators Pia Cayetano, Lito Lapid and Bong Revilla, who all voted to convict, can help correct the injustice which they had committed. Revilla, particularly, can make amends with history and truly move to redeem himself. After all, he was one of those who spilled the beans about the influence exerted by Aquino and Malacañang on the senators who rendered the guilty verdict. Acquitted from criminal charges of plunder, he now claims that he is also a victim of injustice. It would be good for his karma to help rectify the injustice done to Renato Corona, in which he played a part.

https://www.manilatimes.net/correcting-an-injustice/564353/