Aquino not ruling out all-out support for impeachment of Chief Justice Corona

MANILA, Philippines—Will he support an impeachment case against Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona or will he not?

President Benigno Aquino III did not make a categorical answer on Wednesday but he did not rule it out either.

“I do not tell you my plans or anybody else. I think at this point in time, it is important these questions should be propounded,” the President told reporters when asked whether he would support any move in Congress to impeach Corona.

Told that analysts were saying that his tirade against Corona and the high court decisions that favored former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was a sign he was laying the ground for the Chief Justice’s impeachment, President Aquino said: “Can I just say that I started with questions and somehow these questions are growing and they still don’t have answers?”

And apart from controversial questions about Arroyo, he said he had been speaking with an official from the League of Cities who confided to him their confusion about the flip-flopping of high court decisions on cityhood laws, especially in relation to budget allocations they get from government.

And that was why he noted that what all three branches of government would do would affect the people “at the end of the day.”

Asked whether he was open to offers by bishops to mediate talks between him and Corona, the President replied in the affirmative.

“Of course,” he said, but he defended the Palace’s aggressive stance in questioning the Supreme Court, saying its rulings, such as the one junking the Truth Commission, had affected his government’s duty to govern.

“But if the list (of complaints against the high court) gets longer,  to what extent are we co-equals, there are many decisions that are questionable and we just endure it. This is not stated in the Constitution and that’s why there is check and balances. If we feel there is a mistake, then we have to focus on it.”