President Benigno Aquino III and Chief Justice Renato Corona. INQUIRER file photo
With their word war far from over, Catholic bishops on Monday joined calls in the Senate for President Aquino and Chief Justice Renato Corona to observe prudence and proper decorum.
“We advise them to be more discreet in what they say [and] to be more prudent in what they tell the people,” Tagbilaran Bishop Leonardo Medroso said on Church-run Radio Veritas.
“[They should be] more mature in relating with one another since they are leaders… they are talking as persons with dignity and education,” Medroso said. “Every word that they say will always have an influence on the people.”
In a phone interview with reporters, Caloocan Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez said he hoped that Mr. Aquino and Corona would be reminded that they should be setting a good example to the public.
“We hope they realize that they are public servants and they always have the public’s good in mind and heart [and] we appeal that… they put aside their personal issues because it’s bad for the country,” said Iñiguez, also the chair of the public affairs committee of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).
Over the weekend, the President said he was not going to be silent on the Senate impeachment trial of Corona for alleged culpable violation of the Constitution, betrayal of public trust and corruption.
Mr. Aquino also stated that his verbal attacks were not directed at Corona but at the flawed judiciary of which the impeached justice, he said, was the face.
Mr. Aquino called on Corona to open his bank accounts to the public if he is not hiding anything; Corona has urged the President to release purported psychological records of his mental capacity to govern.
Distraction
Senator-judges last week called on the two leaders to stop their word war and just allow the impeachment trial to run its course.
Senator Gregorio Honasan on Monday said that the exchanges between Mr. Aquino and Corona had “distracted and slowed down the search for truth and justice.”
Archbishop Emeritus Oscar Cruz said Mr. Aquino may have all the right to voice out his opinions but his position as the highest leader of the country does not permit him to do so.
“He can really speak his mind if he was like a common Tom, Dick and Harry but he is not since he is the President,” Cruz told reporters. “Proper decorum and propriety dictates that he should exhibit some sort of statesmanship and prudence.”
The mere fact that Corona’s impeachment trial is already taking place, Mr. Aquino’s verbal attacks on the Chief Justice is already “out of place,” he added.
Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said Mr. Aquino just wanted to inform the people about the impeachment trial because of “technicalities and peripherals” and was not attempting to influence the senators.
“There’s no other hidden agenda here other than the President’s desire to reform the judiciary,” he said.
Told that Corona’s lawyers have yet to present their defense, Lacierda shot back that there was no need to wait for the trial proper.
“If you have nothing to hide, why won’t you disclose it,” he said. “Instead of answering the questions, disclosing his dollar deposits, disclose the truth, Chief Justice Corona continues to divert attention on the main issue.”
Ballsy Cruz
At a news forum, former Senator Aquilino Pimentel suggested Monday that Mr. Aquino’s eldest sister, Ballsy Cruz, could restrain the President in the verbal tussle with Corona.
“You cannot act like any other man on the street, obviously, so there has to be restraint on your part, and let me stress again that I think no other person or group of persons can do that, I mean put some brakes on the tendency to blurt out things except his sisters, particularly Ballsy,” Pimentel said. “Other than that, it would be difficult to restrain him from speaking out.”
“At this point, I think the damage has been done to his (Corona’s) effectiveness. But he is also put in a bind… if he resigns now, that is an admission of guilt. If he does not resign and waits for the decision of the impeachment court, which may be of acquittal because getting 16 votes might be difficult, he might consider quitting,” Pimentel said. With reports from Christine O. Avendaño, Jeannette I. Andrade and Michael Lim Ubac
Originally posted: 3:57 pm | Monday, February 20th, 2012