Corona invited to inaugural

MANILA, Philippines - Chief Justice Renato Corona has been invited to attend the inauguration of president-elect Benigno Aquino III on June 30 but he has not yet confirmed his attendance.

SC spokesman and Court Administrator Jose Midas Marquez said Corona and the other magistrates received their invitation from the camp of Aquino yesterday afternoon.

Aquino has openly declared his opposition to President Arroyo’s appointment of Corona as chief justice, citing the constitutional ban on midnight appointments.

Aquino has chosen Associate Justice Conchita Carpio-Morales to administer his oath.

Marquez said Corona has not yet seen the invitation and has yet to decide if he would attend.

He said he expected the chief justice to make a decision over the weekend but hinted at his not attending because of his busy schedule.

“He (Corona) will be administering the oath to several elected officials on June 30. That’s why he’s making himself available on June 30 at the Supreme Court,” Marquez explained.

SC chief justices traditionally swear in presidents. Other SC magistrates are also traditionally invited to presidential inaugurations.

It was only Carpio-Morales among the SC justices who contested the legality of Corona’s appointment by Mrs. Arroyo, citing the election ban on midnight appointments under Section 15, Article VII of the Constitution.

Aquino stood firmly against taking his oath before Corona despite calls from various sectors that he follow tradition and accept the new SC chief.

But even his late mother, President Corazon Aquino, took her oath not before an incumbent chief justice but before associate justice Claudio Teehankee in February 1986 at the height of the people power revolution that eventually toppled the Marcos dictatorship.

Corona earlier said he had been asked to swear in several elected officials, including those from Aquino’s Liberal Party.

“Actually I no longer know their party affiliations. I don’t know who’s still in Lakas or what. They jump to each other’s quarters; I’m so confused,” he told reporters in jest.

Last June 18, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile took his oath before Corona.

“We are one nation, one people. And although we are divided into majority, minority, in all levels, especially in Congress and especially in the judiciary, we must maintain a unified position as a people in order to propel the progress of our country and people,” Enrile said in defense of his decision to be sworn in by Corona.

He said leaders “should create an atmosphere and an environment of unity in spite of our diversity.”

Facts only

 Aquino, meanwhile, promised to be as factual and realistic as possible in his inaugural address.

“There will be bold strokes of exactly what the people can expect. There are time frames to be mentioned,” Aquino said.

“But more of the details will be fleshed out come SONA (State of the Nation Address),” Aquino told reporters in an ambush interview Thursday night. Aquino will deliver his first SONA before the new Congress in July.

“Don’t forget, the first order I will give the Cabinet is to really assess the conditions of their respective areas of concern. We want to know the picture and the picture presents the problems, the proposed and possible solutions, and we present the solutions come SONA,” Aquino said.

Aquino explained his administration would have to present the budget about a month after the SONA.

“We want to make sure the details we are addressing are the real details, not the assumed details,” Aquino said.

‘Let her be’

Asked about Mrs. Arroyo’ pronouncement that she was leaving behind a greater nation, Aquino said: “Maybe I will just let her be in the last few days of her administration. I won’t debate anymore. She’s a woman and older than me. I think the condition and real state of the nation will come out in SONA.”

“Maybe more than anything let us really assess what has transpired, what needs to be done. I’ll give it to her but I will not rely on it as Gospel truth,” he said.

He also said plunder charges being readied by militant groups against Mrs. Arroyo would have to be brought up to the appropriate body, the Office of the Ombudsman.

“I am praying there will be no haste so that what would be filed would not be defective. That’s why I proposed a commission that will gather the facts and present charges,” Aquino said.

He also said he would also look into the performance of Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez.

“We’re working on that. Of course I’m aware of it. And we’re working to correct the situation. I think you are witness to how many times I mentioned in the case of Mr. Bolante it took them four years to start investigating. So that I think is a very dismal record,” Aquino said, referring to the fertilizer fund scam involving former agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn “Jocjoc” Bolante. – With Aurea Calica