Summary of the impeachment complaint vs Chief Justice Corona

MANILA, Philippines - I. Respondent betrayed the public trust through his track record marked by partiality and subservience in cases involving the Arroyo administration from the time of his appointment as Supreme Court justice which continued to his dubious appointment as a midnight chief justice and up to the present.

II. Respondent committed culpable violation of the Constitution and/or betrayed the public trust when he failed to disclose to the public his statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth as required under Section. 17, Article XI of the 1987 Constitution.

III. Respondent committed culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayed the public trust by failing to meet and observe the stringent standards under Article VIII, Section 7 (3) of the Constitution that provides that “[A] member of the judiciary must be a person of proven competence, integrity, probity, and independence” in allowing the Supreme Court to act on mere letters filed by a counsel , which caused the issuance of flip-flopping decisions in final and executory cases; in creating an excessive entanglement with Mrs. Arroyo through her appointment of his wife to office; and in discussing with litigants regarding cases pending before the Supreme Court.

IV. Respondent betrayed the public trust and/or committed culpable violation of the Constitution when it blatantly disregarded the principle of separation of powers by issuing a “status quo ante” order against the House of Representatives in the case concerning the impeachment of then Ombudsman Merceditas Navarro-Gutierrez.       

NCR judges and court employees march from Manila City Hall to the Supreme Court to demonstrate their support for Chief Justice Renato Corona. EDD GUMBAN

V. Respondent committed culpable violation of the Constitution through wanton arbitrariness and partiality in consistently disregarding the principle of res judicata  and in deciding in favor of gerry-mandering in the cases  involving the 16 newly-created cities, and the promotion of Dinagat Island into a province.

VI. Respondent betrayed the public trust by arrogating unto himself, and to a committee he created, the authority and jurisdiction to improperly investigate an alleged erring member of the Supreme Court for the purpose of exculpating him. Such authority and jurisdiction is properly reposed by the Constitution in the House of Representatives via impeachment.

Senators acting as judges in the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona are sworn in by Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile at the Senate yesterday. MANNY MARCELO

VII. Respondent betrayed the public trust through his partiality in granting a temporary restraining order (TRO) in favor of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her husband Jose Miguel Arroyo in order to give them an opportunity to escape prosecution and to frustrate the ends of justice, and in distorting the Supreme Court decision on the effectivity of the TRO in view of a clear failure to comply with the conditions of the Supreme Court’s own TRO.

VIII. Respondent betrayed the public trust and/or committed graft and corruption when he failed and refused to account for the judiciary development fund (JDF) and special allowance for the judiciary (SAJ) collections.