Trial by publicity

The ordinary person on the street would have to wonder why the House prosecution is busy making all these exposes on Chief Justice Renato Corona ahead of his impeachment trial in the Senate.

Even if that person is no lawyer, it doesn’t take a law degree to notice that these exposes, even if true, would amount to what now passes as a “trial by publicity” of the Chief Justice, whose ties to the past Arroyo administration are well-documented.

As Chief Magistrate of the highest court in the land and a citizen of this republic, Corona is still entitled to a presumption of innocence before evidence proves otherwise.

Yet, these exposes on his ownership of condominium units already paint a picture of guilt that’s too ugly to ignore. When the impeachment proceedings against Corona were announced public sentiment favored the Aquino administration’s move despite the seeming haste and sudden nature of its timing.

It’s only been a few days in 2012 and already, the House prosecution team is making all sorts of noise starting with Corona’s alleged ownership of a unit in a plush condominium located in the country’s premier business district.

Was the Chief Justice’s alleged ownership of this condo unit included in the list of charges readied against him? It seems unlikely, so why expose this now? And it’s not just the average Filipino who’s asking about this.

The Senate, which is mandated to handle the impeachment proceedings, warned the House against making these exposes ahead of the trial. To put it bluntly, the exposes appear to be conditioning public perception of the Chief Justice.

Either that or the House prosecution’s case cannot stand up to legal scrutiny; or both. To Corona’s disadvantage, the impeachment trial is more a political exercise and a numbers game rather than a legal proceeding in which there are stringent rules of procedure in presenting evidence.

Completely unrelated perhaps but no less significant was the President’s go-signal to push through with the freedom of information bill. While it’s a long way off, perhaps the timing was intended to enable the media to dig more dirt on Corona? Just asking.

At any rate, if the House prosecution has a strong case against Corona, they should keep their cards close to their chests. While both sides in the impeachment trial have their own legal strategies, they shouldn’t play up to the crowd with exposes that are best threshed out in a public proceeding like, say, an impeachment trial.

Hitting a person when he or she is down is not only poor form, it’s outright unjust even for an unpopular Chief Justice. His ties to a previous administration doesn’t mean he’s not entitled to a fair trial.