MANILA, Philippines - Forgiveness is all that matters now to Chief Justice Renato Corona as he prepares for his impeachment trial at the Senate beginning tomorrow.
“I will no longer wait to be acquitted. This early, I have already forgiven them,” Corona told reporters yesterday on the sidelines of the last Novena Mass organized by his supporters at the Supreme Court (SC).
The embattled SC chief said he holds no grudge against President Aquino, who publicly supported his impeachment by administration allies in the House of Representatives last month.
“I still hold that Christian value my parents and my schools had taught me – to forgive all those who sinned against me,” he said.
Corona also shrugged off the reported “Plan B” of the Aquino administration, wherein he would be replaced even if acquitted.
“I no longer fear that Plan B. What we all have to fear is our Lord,” he said.
He again voiced his belief that it was the SC’s decision last November to have Hacienda Luisita distributed to tenants that prompted the administration to work for his ouster. The Aquino-Cojuangco family owns Hacienda Luisita.
The House of Representatives voted to impeach Corona last Dec. 12 or barely a month after the SC decision on the Hacienda Luisita case.
Corona is now being accused of owning over 45 condominium units and real estate properties in Metro Manila. He admitted he owns only five properties - a house he inherited from his parents and four condominium units he earned through hard work.
“I will stand by the truth; I own five properties,” he said. He called the allegation “nothing but black propaganda to poison the people’s minds.”
Corona said he is ready for his trial, but he would not say if he would be attending the hearings.
“This battle has gone beyond me. My battle has become secondary. This is now the battle of the people for democracy and rule of law,” he said.
He also ruled out taking a leave of absence, much less resigning. “There is no Filipino who loves his country and will resign in this situation,” he said, adding that he draws strength from his family and supporters.
Last Friday, retired Archbishop Oscar Cruz visited the embattled chief justice to give his support and “blessing.”
“He is the target but with him is the entire judiciary. The judiciary is under threat now by attacks by no less than the executive,” the outspoken prelate said.
He called Corona’s impeachment trial “a political gimmick” that “has no merit at all.”
Judiciary in black
Black rules in the judiciary as hundreds of judges and court employees vow to show up tomorrow at the SC compound in black shirts to dramatize their support for Corona.
Corona’s sympathizers also plan to cover the huge statues of the late Chief Justices Cayetano Arellano and Jose Abad Santos at the steps of the SC building on Padre Faura Street with black cloth as part of their protest and to symbolize the “death of democracy in the Philippines.”
Black ribbons will bedeck some spots along the routes where the protesters intend to hold their “walk for democracy.”
A huge TV monitor would be put up at the SC quadrangle to enable court personnel and Corona supporters to monitor the Senate impeachment proceedings.
“The court employees are agitated and we want to show our disgust on this impeachment which is an attack against our institution,” Jojo Guerrero, president of the SC Employees Association, told reporters yesterday on the sidelines of the final Novena Mass for Corona.
Guerrero said they initially decided against a work stoppage. “But we see that the people are not fully informed or educated about the real issues involving the judiciary.”
Guerrero recalled their “black Monday” protest last year with the judges over proposed cuts in the budget of the judiciary and the refusal of the executive department to release unpaid special allowances and salaries for retired and active judges and court employees.
“Even way back to the budget issue, the executive really wants to control the judiciary. And we cannot just sit and allow that to happen without a fight. We are behind the chief justice in this battle,” he said.
He said they shared Corona’s belief that the SC decision on the Hacienda Luisita triggered moves to impeach the chief justice.
Guerrero said their protest actions are voluntary and that they have been warned by the SC to be “more careful” in holding such activities.
“But we can no longer contain this, as emotions of our members are already running high,” he said.
There are over 27,000 court employees all over the country. The SC Employees Association alone has about 3,000 members.
Mass and prayers
Corona, his family and supporters will greet the first day of the trial tomorrow with a Mass at the SC grounds at 9:30 a.m. to be celebrated by bishops.
After the Mass, Corona is expected to deliver a message of gratitude and solidarity with members of the judiciary.
The Sheriffs Confederation of the Philippines Inc. (SCP), meanwhile, lashed out at the executive department for its “continuous attack” on the SC.
“The pressures being exerted so that the courts, a third and co-equal branch of the government, kowtow to the wishes of the chief executive, first through the budget, then by verbal abuse and now by impeachment is very disheartening,” the SCP said in a statement.
“We support Chief Justice Renato Corona in his fight to resist these efforts aimed at undermining the integrity and independence of the courts,” it said.
The Judiciary Association of Clerks of the Philippines (JACOPHIL) expressed its “heartfelt support for and commitment” to the Chief Justice.
It said that “all freedom-loving, law-abiding Filipinos are duty bound to respect the mandates of a co-equal branch of government.”
Sorsogon first district Rep. Salvador Escudero III, father of Sen. Francis Escudero, expressed “full confidence that with God’s help and guidance, the Chief Justice can weather this (impeachment trial).”
Alliance for National and Democracy party-list Rep. Pastor Alcover Jr. said his group “is seriously disturbed with the recent turn of events” with the judiciary becoming “the favorite target of a sinister campaign of vilification and insults from no less than the President.”
Wrong move
A legal expert, meanwhile, said the House prosecution panel made a “wrong move” when it asked the Senate to compel Corona’s wife, children, and a son-in-law to appear before the impeachment court.
Romulo Macalintal expressed belief the testimonies of Corona’s wife Cristina and their children on the alleged questionable real properties would not serve the prosecution’s cause and might only strengthen the defense of the embattled Chief Justice.
“Firstly, I am sure the prosecution will never accept any ‘explanation’ favorable to Corona,” he said in a statement.
He said the law provides that spouses cannot be compelled to testify against each other in a trial.
“The same is true for children who cannot be compelled to testify against their parents under Rule 130 of Rules of Court,” he said.
He said the Rules of Court also apply to the impeachment trial as provided for in Section 6 of the Senate impeachment rules.
Macalintal also said the Senate would likely accept Corona’s motion for preliminary hearing when the impeachment trial begins tomorrow afternoon.
“The Senate impeachment court has no alternative but to allow Corona’s motion for preliminary hearing which is a remedy allowed under the RC (rules of court) which under the own rules of the SIC (Senate impeachment court) shall be ‘suppletorily applied’ as provided in Section VI of SIC rules,” he said.
But he clarified that there is no assurance of dismissal of the impeachment complaint by the court after the preliminary hearing since the case would “take up factual issues which could be better resolved in the trial proper where evidence and counterevidence will be adduced by both parties.”
