No apology for undiplomatic behavior

On the first day of the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona, the accused himself showed up at the Senate acting as a court.

Corona didn’t have to do that since his presence is needed only when he is summoned by the senator-judges.

But the Chief Justice appeared with his wife and children.

I am not for Corona and neither am I for former President Gloria to whom he is linked, but for him to make an appearance in the Senate in the first day of his impeachment trial speaks volumes of his guts.

This is not saying that Corona is not guilty of the charges leveled against him, but isn’t that an indication?

A man who is not afraid to face his accusers would seem to show that he’s not hiding anything.

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The Chief Justice has been warned by well-meaning friends and supporters that all the skeletons in his closet would be exposed to the public.

But Corona said he and his family were not hiding anything.

They are prepared for a long siege on their reputation, said a Supreme Court insider.

But you know who’s on trial here?

It’s not Corona, it’s the Supreme Court and the entire judiciary.

If Corona is found guilty and booted out of office—which is likely, given the public’s cry for his blood—the high court’s integrity will be weakened.

And popular presidents who will succeed P-Noy will make impeachment their tool to bend the will of the Supreme Court to their wishes.

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This is not in defense of Chief Justice Renato Corona.

This is in defense of an institution that is coequal to the executive and legislative branches of government.

Destroy the judiciary, which is led by the Supreme Court, and we cripple the entire government.

For the executive branch of government, led by Malacañang, cannot destroy the judiciary without destroying itself as well.

This piece of thought does not come from a lawyer, but from a layman who speaks, hopefully, for the Silent Majority.

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Oh, yes, the Supreme Court—as well as the lower courts—is corrupt as claimed by the Palace.

But which government office is not?

It’s like the pot calling the kettle black.

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They accuse Corona of owning a unit at the high-end Bellagio Tower 1 at the Fort.

If they check again, they will find that many generals and other high public officials own units at the same high-class condominium.

So why single out Corona for having a unit at Bellagio?

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It’s been 12 days after that shameful incident at a Korean restaurant in Makati City, when a ranking US diplomat cussed a young Filipino woman, but no apology is forthcoming from the US Embassy.

Meanwhile, Korean American Dean I. Chang, US Embassy’s second secretary, continues to thumb his nose at the media, which exposed his boorish behavior toward 22-year-old Princess Cordova.

It seems Harry Thomas, Washington’s envoy to Manila, is condoning Chang’s undiplomatic behavior.

Thomas is probably the most aloof ambassador to the Philippines.

His predecessor, Kristie Kenney, on the other hand, is very friendly toward Filipinos.