The Corona case

After a decade, the late chief justice Renato Corona has been vindicated by the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan, which ruled that his wealth was not ill-gotten.

The Senate, acting as a court, found Corona guilty during an impeachment trial. As a result, Corona was dismissed as chief magistrate.

The three senators who voted to acquit Corona were senators Joker Arroyo, Miriam Defensor-Santiago and Bongbong Marcos.

The case against Corona stemmed from his failure to declare several cash assets and properties in his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth, otherwise known as his SALN.

President Noynoy was behind the filing of the impeachment complaint. His family had an axe to grind against Corona who, as chief justice, ruled that Hacienda Luisita belonged to its farmer-tenants and should be apportioned among them.

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This columnist inadvertently took part in trying to help Corona vindicate himself by approaching some of his wealthy friends for a media campaign.

A friend in the Supreme Court who is now an associate justice approached me to help in Corona’s vindication campaign.

Some of Corona’s wealthy friends that this individual, who is now SC justice, and I approached to help the embattled chief justice refused to get involved. They were scared that president Noynoy would learn of their support.

These wealthy friends were once the beneficiaries of Corona’s help when he was still the chief of staff of president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

But one of them was an exception: real estate tycoon Willy Keng, who readily gave his support.

Aside from financial support, Keng also lent Corona one of his bullet-proof Suburban SUVs.

“I owe him a debt of gratitude; therefore, I should help,” Keng said.

The lesson I learned from the Corona experience is that you get to know your real friends when you’re in a crisis.

Apparently, word of Keng’s actions reached Noynoy, who had friends in media.

Keng was crucified in a media outlet for his alleged links to illegal drugs, which is an outright lie.

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At last, the Department of Education has issued guidelines to teachers that, among other things, possibly prohibits performing provocative dances on social media, especially on Tiktok platform.

DepEd personnel have been told “to desist from any act that may compromise one’s integrity as a government employee and that may compromise the honor of the DepEd.”

On at least two instances, this column pointed out the unbecoming conduct of some public-school teachers in uniform, who danced and gyrated on Tiktok, with movements suggestive of the sex act, right inside their classrooms.

Some lewd comments that those female teachers got came from students.

One student, apparently male, said that he would be willing to fail and repeat the year so he could always see the dancing teacher and fantasize.

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT), through chairperson Vladimer Quetua, has expressed concern over the expanded DepEd policy, saying parts of the order “threaten the freedom of expression” of the mentors.

So, is lewd dancing in public by a teacher considered “freedom of expression?”

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Millions of fans mourn the death of Danny Javier, one of the three singers who were the APO Hiking Society.

Javier and his siblings belong to a prominent family from Javier, Leyte.

Danny’s brother, George, was also in show business as an accomplished comedian.

The least known among the Javier siblings is Leonardo Jr., a.k.a. Sandy.

Sandy, who’s second to Danny in the brood lineup, is a billionaire whose wealth comes from selling roasted chicken.

Sandy’s business, Andok’s Litson Manok, started on a sidewalk in Quezon City in 1985. It was harassed by the police in the early days because it was obstructing pedestrian traffic.

Sandy admits to being the “black sheep” among the Javier siblings.

Sandy, a looker, said he drifted in college because “having girlfriends was more fun than studying.”

He managed to graduate from the Ateneo de Manila University but continued in his easy ways.

“I was a vagabond and had no direction. I was making so many mistakes. So, one day I went to my mother and told her I was going away to find myself,” Sandy said.

He went to Japan and did odd jobs. Sandy once sang for a Yakuza member who slapped him after his performance.

Sandy said he received 20,000 yen after being slapped. It was a Yakuza member’s way of showing appreciation. The next day, he was looking for more Yakuza gangsters to slap him, he recalled with laughter.

From Japan, he went to Germany. There, he had a job repairing television sets.

Sandy came back to the country when his father was dying. Sandy said he promised his dad that if he succeeded in business, he would name it after the old man.

Andok was his father’s nickname.

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Hundreds of children, as well as adults, will be smiling this Christmas, thanks to the SM Foundation.

The SM Foundation donated 300 pieces of Uniqlo dry fit shirts, 200 pieces of school backpacks complete with school kits and 3,000 pieces of Uniqlo AIRism masks.

Each backpack has three spiral notebooks, two ballpens, a 12-inch ruler, a pair of scissors, a geometry ruler set and an intermediate-size pad.

The SM Foundation donated the early Christmas gifts to the Ramon Tulfo Good Samaritan Foundation.

My foundation is a conduit of the SM Foundation, which regularly donates excess stocks from all SM malls.

The SM donation is always facilitated by former actress Connie Angeles.