‘He did not detail how his family and that of his wife, being families of means, donated to the couple the wealth that they now possess.’
IMPEACHED Chief Justice Renato Corona defends himself against accusations of having 45 pieces of real estate in different parts of Metro Manila by saying that he belongs to a family of means. So does his wife, Cristina Roco.
He said that the information obtained by his prosecutors in the House from the Land Registration Administration is a hoax. He went on to say, quite needlessly, that the man who issued the certification was his student. If so, why did his former student “betray” him?
First off, he did not detail how his family and that of his wife, being families of means, donated to the couple the wealth that they now possess.
That statement does not sit with his allegation that the information about the pieces of real estate, all in this name and that of his wife, is a hoax. It cannot be a hoax if it is true as he said, that they come from families of means.
Being so, it must be presumed that the money the couple used in buying the assets came from their families. Based on this, the documents provided by the LRA cannot be a hoax.
But he said it is a hoax.
If it is a hoax, his first reaction would have been a strong statement by him or his lawyers that he will sue his former student, now in the LRA, for lying by submitting spurious documents, a hoax.
How oxymoronic!
The LRA issued the certification based on records in its files. The person who signed the certification, his former student he said, is liable for a serious crime if the Chief Justice suspects or actually believes and can prove that the documents about the conjugal assets do not in reality exist.
It would be utterly wrong to suspect that the LRA was pressured by the House prosecutors to issue an unverifiable certification.
The Chief Justice has one option left as far as the certification is concerned. He can ask the impeachment court to summon his former student as a witness. But before doing that he should seek a certification from the same former student that the documents showing the extent of the conjugal assets was issued under duress or threat from the House prosecutors.
The former student must tell the impeachment court that he lied through his teeth. There are no such documents.
The Chief Justice is a lawyer, the best in the Court for the private purposes and intentions of Gloria Arroyo. Most significant in the “hoax” is the fact that the assets were acquired while he was in the service of the former President as early as the days when she was vice president to Joseph Estrada.
To prove that the couple come from families of means, the Chief Justice must show documents how and when the two families gave them the same means to acquire the assets.
If the money came from the families of the spouses, it must be in the form of inheritance, donations or some such arrangements. But there must be documents proving so. The Chief Justice did not say he or his wife has any. He just said the information is a hoax.
The Chief Justice also stated that the avalanche of negative information against him is all about Hacienda Luisita, owned by the family of President Aquino.
The Supreme Court unanimously voted to order the partition of the 6,000- hectare Hacienda Luisita to its tenants. It was a collegial ruling, not just of the Chief Justice.
He is suggesting that President Aquino who earlier said he does not have any interest in the vast hacienda, is trying to even up a score with him.
If the Hacienda Luisita ruling is wrong to President Aquino, in the mind of the Chief Justice, it must be pointed out that the ruling that installed him as head of the Highest Tribunal is just as wrong, if not more wrong, to the 97 million Filipinos most of whom continue to support the President as shown in the latest acceptance rating. It did not occur to the Chief Justice that his rating is minus 14 percent.
For all practical reasons and purposes, the Chief Justice is being tried before the bar of public opinion before he could sit to defend himself in the impeachment Court. The prosecutors are obviously testing the public pulse.
They have the support of the people as shown in the recent surveys. Indeed, the impeachment is trial by publicity. The prosecutors have presented so much evidence to media. The Chief Justice has not been able to refute most of them.
His temper or mood swings get the better of him. He or his supporters even organized a nine-day novena for his acquittal. He said that he will be acquitted. He said he harbors no grudge against his accusers. He said he has forgiven them before his acquittal.
Little does he realize that impeachment is a political process. It is a battle of numbers.
The trial is ordinarily won by the party in power. Unfortunately, the party of his patron is not in power. On that basis alone, he may be considered a loser.
Most important of all, he has not presented evidence that the public accusation made against him is wrong. There is more evidence to come.
How does an accused say he will be acquitted in the face of mountains of documents that tend to prove he did wrong? By turning to God and with a nine-day novena? A sinner atones for his sins. God is in control. He will know what to do with him.
He said the way he was raised, what he was taught in school and what he learned do not create any room for the charges made against him outside the impeachment court. Hence the latest barrage is a hoax.
Based on what continues to unravel, it appears that it is the Chief Justice who is a hoax. His appointment was made through the violation of the Constitution. That violation must be punished. The only way is to impeach the Chief Justice.
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