All of a sudden, the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona has turned into a trial of President Noynoy Aquino as well. On the block are the ethical, moral and legal standards by which Noynoy has been orchestrating the impeachment.
Having openly called the shots, Noynoy cannot escape responsibility for the underhanded methods being employed to make sure that Corona first gets demonized in public then convicted and removed from office.
And nowhere was this more apparent than in last Wednesday’s hearing at the Senate when one of his own men, Land Registration Authority administrator Eulalio Diaz III, was found to have issued, under questionable circumstances, a list of 45 properties purportedly owned by Corona.
As gleaned from his own testimony, and after careful scrutiny by the defense, it was determined that the list Diaz issued was padded, containing titles to properties that were either cancelled already or did not belong to Corona at all — facts even the prosecution stipulated.
Diaz, a lawyer, first explained that he produced the list two to three days after a mere telephone call from lead prosecutor Niel Tupas Jr. But after intense questioning by senators, he later revealed that he actually had the list ready even before Tupas called.
So why was such a list prepared prior to an actual request? More importantly, why did the list contain titles that clearly had nothing to do with Corona (an example is a piece of property in the name of former Quezon City mayor Ismael Mathay Jr.)?
Diaz of course refused to admit any participation in the effort to nail Corona. He dodged a question by Senate president Juan Ponce Enrile if somebody “whispered” instructions to him then objected to Senator Jinggoy Estrada’s comment of being “in cahoots” with the prosecution.
The question by Enrile and the comment by Estrada showed they suspected Diaz to know more than he was willing to admit, an unwillingness to tell the truth that runs counter to what Noynoy and his prosecutors have been insisting all along — that they are only searching for the truth.
Diaz, by the way, is a former classmate of Noynoy and a campaign volunteer in his Senate and presidential bids. When Noynoy became president, he rewarded Diaz for his loyalty with the top LRA post despite Diaz never having had any prior experience that the job requires.
This is how the “daang matuwid” principle of Noynoy works. It is exemplified by an unyielding willingness to ignore the potentially fatal consequences of placing important national agencies in the hands of inexperienced but loyal friends (another example — our envoy to China).
The testimony of Diaz also underscored another flaw in the impeachment case — that the impeachment vehicle was set in motion despite not having any gas yet in its tank. It was the role of Diaz, apparently, to provide the gas later, in the form of a list of properties.
And what a list of properties he provided. Clearly the intent was to belatedly provide the evidence to the impeachment charge and to paint a picture of Corona that was possessed with an insatiable greed to acquire properties even beyond what he could afford from his earnings.
With that as the underlying theme, the prosecution, especially its spokesmen like Miro Quimbo and Erin Tanada, quickly went to town with the list, waving it before the cameras without regard for the truth or falsity it contained.
But truth in Noynoy’s search for truth need not deal with truth at all. Otherwise, as leader of the land, Noynoy ought to be first in putting his foot down on the need to uphold the law and the right to fair play and due process no matter what it may cost his personal interests.