Saying sorry is a personal decision

MANILA, Philippines—Chief Justice Renato Corona on Friday said he would leave it up to God the prosecution’s refusal to apologize on the bloated figures about his properties.

“Ipapasa- Diyos ko na lang sila,” the Chief Justice said in a statement.

At this week’s impeachment trial, senator-judges lambasted the prosecution for initially accusing Corona of owning 45 properties.

“You cannot go to town with unverified information, especially given the big difference between the reported number of properties and what was submitted…. If they made the correction in a press conference, the correction should also be made in a press conference,” Senator Loren Legarda said.

Senator  Jinggoy Estrada urged Iloilo Representative Niel Tupas, Jr., head of the prosecution panel, to correct the wrong impression created in the minds of the public after they released to the media the unverified 45 properties allegedly owned by Corona.

“May I tell you, to advise your spokesmen to rectify the error and take back what they said in the media that indeed, the properties of Chief Justice Corona are not 45, because I think the damage has already been done.  It was already instilled in the minds of the public, in the minds of the people, or even in the minds of the court that Corona has 45 properties, when in fact, they are not 45,” said Estrada.

On the other hand, Senator Joker Arroyo said such act of misleading the public is “sickening.”

Corona thanked the senator-judges for “weighing the facts on the erroneous report on the 45 properties.  Much as we want to get an apology, we cannot force this to the prosecutors.  Saying sorry for a harm done is a personal decision.”