MANILA, Philippines – President Benigno Aquino III today expressed his “deepest gratitude” to his allies in the House of Representatives for impeaching Chief Justice Renato Corona.
“For your work, you have my deepest gratitude,” Aquino said in a speech during the administration coalition caucus at the EDSA Shangri-La Hotel in Mandaluyong City.
The caucus came a day after President Aquino’s allies in the House swiftly impeached Corona.
In his speech, Aquino said that Corona has remained loyal to former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, and has hampered several moves of his administration to reform the government and fulfill its promise to the people to hold accountable those who have erred during the past administration.
“We strived to establish this system by means of a Truth Commission. But our very first step was obstructed by the Supreme Court under Chief Justice Renato Corona,” Aquino said.
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He also recalled his frustration over the alleged attempt of the high court to block the administration’s move to impeach then Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, another appointee of Arroyo.
He said it was the judiciary which attempted to disrupt the duties of the legislative when it issued the status quo ante order, prohibiting the House from proceeding with the impeachment of Gutierrez.
“Soon after that, they tried to block the impeachment case against former Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez. Do the Supreme Court’s actions not strike us as a direct attack on our Legislative Branch, which has impeachment among its particular, expressed powers?” he said.
Aquino said that from the very start, his administration had doubts of Corona’s impartiality and that the chief justice would not be fair due to his “debt of gratitude” to Mrs. Arroyo for thrusting him into office.
“But we endeavored to get along with the Supreme Court under Mr. Corona; we looked forward to—we hoped for—true justice to prevail over his allegiance to Mrs. Arroyo,” he said.
He said that level of his frustration went overboard when the SC issued a temporary restraining order last month against the watchlist order issued by the Department of Justice against Mrs. Arroyo.
“We have become convinced that when it comes to Mrs. Arroyo, Mr. Corona has lost the ability to distinguish between right and wrong. Our efforts would be worthless if, even before we reach the courts, the scales had already been tipped against us. The truth could not be clearer: Mr. Corona was appointed to the Supreme Court, not as an instrument of justice, but as a disciple of Mrs. Arroyo,” Aquino said.
Aquino said now that Corona has been impeached, his allies in the House provided the right venue for the chief justice to answer the allegations against him.
“Mr. Corona: before the House and in the Senate, it is time for you to face those from whom you derive your authority: the Filipino people,” he said.
Aquino also repeated in his speech the allegations included by the House in its impeachment complaint against Corona, including:
- The flip-flopping of the SC on the cityhood conversion of 16 municipalities.
- The recent decision of the SC reversing its 2008 order that pointed on the illegality of the dismissal of several flight attendants of the Philippine Airlines.
- The junking of Aquino’s Executive Order No. 2 which was supposed to nullify all of Arroyo’s midnight appointees.
- Chief Justice's alleged failure to be truthful in his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Networth (SALN).
He said that these are a clear and blatant abuse of the power granted to Corona.
“I call on all of you to pay attention to the process as it unfolds. Let us be involved in the discussions, and cling to what is just,” he added.
Constitutional crisis
In a separate speech before judges of the Manila Regional Trial Court, SC spokesman Midas Marquez said that the country is already in the brink of a constitutional crisis.
“No doubt, we are staring at a constitutional crisis right in its face. However, prudence dictates that I must confine myself to these few observations,” Marquez said.
He labeled the House’s impeachment of Corona as a “dastardly assault” to intimidate the judiciary.
“If they can toy with the public's mind, to put the Chief Justice at the precipice of disaster, how much easier can it be to pressure any other member of the judiciary or anyone of us?” he said.
He said that impeaching Corona is not only an assault on the person of the chief justice, but also to the SC as an institution and the entire judiciary.
He said that all members of the judiciary are being “forced to surrender our constitutionally-mandated powers and functions to the whim and caprice of political machinations.”
Meanwhile, he expressed doubt that the charges mentioned in the impeachment complaint will not prosper.
He said that “any lawyer worth his salt will have difficulty finding sustainable charges worthy of a conviction in an impeachment proceeding.”
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