His day in court

Chief Justice Renato Corona’s defiant message that he won’t resign with an    impeachment trial ahead came complete with a band of court workers wearing black armbands and T-shirts yesterday.

But the support that Corona got from his 2 p.m. speech didn’t resonate in Cebu and many parts of the country. True, a few courthouses cancelled  hearings as a gesture of support, but they were a clear minority.

Corona’s speech merely served to stoke the fires of polarizing division across the country with many people believing that he should resign or be removed from office and a growing number believing that the impeachment is Aquino’s power trip that will move the country to the brink of a constitutional crisis.

The Chief Justice in his speech tried to answer the articles of impeachment against him point by point. While critics will dismiss this as a waste of time since he should make his presentation during the trial, others see this as an opportune moment for Corona to present his case to the public.

This is highly unusual  since magistrates  are supposed to be insulated from public opinion and not just during deliberations on their cases. But such is the nature of the impeachment trial, which is a political exercise and a numbers game, that Chief Justice Corona is forced to come out swinging.

And swing hard he did by accusing the Aquino administration of being an emerging  dictatorship that seeks to subvert  the judiciary in order to make it bend to their will.

Here’s where things get cloudy. Corona wonders why the Aquino administration considers him a stumbling block in the government’s prosecution of cases against former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo when he only constitutes one vote.  Yet in defending himself, Corona  said the attacks against are an attack on the whole Supreme Court.

So which is which? He’s not the Supreme Court  when people question why there are rulings favoring Arroyo, but he equates himself with the institution when it comes to the impeachment trial against him.

Last time we heard, a dictatorship meant that even officials like Corona are unable to ventilate their sentiments, much less defend themselves in a court of law unless they’re willing to face riot police armed with truncheons, tear gas and fire hoses.

Instead of having the luxury of speaking outside  the Supreme Court building with employees listening to your every word, a dictatorship would mean that even officials like Corona are detained in a military stockade, awaiting trial in an army kangaroo court.

It’s time for Corona to heed his own advice: keep his peace and await his day in court.