Media-savvy Chief Justice
Last week, Chief Justice Renato Corona went on a media blitz, granting interviews to radio networks and answering questions about matters raised during the impeachment trial. The act was timed when relatives of Corona’s wife, Christina, alleged that he oppressed the members of the Basa family.
Corona asserted once again that he had nothing to hide and was just a victim of the vindictive Aquino administration that had him impeached in retaliation for the Supreme Court (SC) decision that allowed the big Hacienda Luisita of the Cojuangco family to be distributed to the farmers.
Corona also asserted that the impeachment or quest to oust him was participated in by a colleague at the SC who wanted to be Chief Justice, Associate Justice Antonio Carpio.
Ana Basa revealed a mouthful last week in an interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer. Her side of the family, she said, was shocked to know that the money found in the bank account of the Coronas could be part of the proceeds of the sale of the Basa property.
If it is true, she asked, why was the money deposited in Corona’s personal account? And what about the loan that the Coronas got from the Basa-Quidotes? Apparently Basa could not remember that the loan was approved or even discussed by officials of the corporation.
Basa’s revelation was corroborated by one of the direct heirs of the Basa-Quidote clan, her auntie Sister Flory who is about 90 years old. Basa also accused the Chief Justice of pointing a gun to the clan’s old, trusted helper who is already dead but accordingly executed an affidavit narrating the incident before he died.
Corona said the revelations of Basa and Sister Flory were all false, concoctions made up by people including Justice Carpio.
Corona also revealed that the administration sent a senator, whom he did not name, as emissary to tell him to resign and pave the way for term sharing with Justice Carpio.
Now Corona is being challenged by Sen. Franklin Drilon to reveal the identity of the emissary to be fair to all the senators.
While Corona stated that he has nothing to hide and is willing to open his dollar accounts at the proper time in the impeachment court, many do not believe him because the defense team by obtaining a temporary restraining order issued by the High Court blocked attempts to look into these accounts.
But as a response, the prosecution team is seeking the permission of the impeachment court to open the dollar account of the Coronas.
The prosecution is also looking at the possibility of calling Basa and Sister Flory to testify in the impeachment trial but may be hampered because it already rested its case. But for the sake of truth, I think we should disregard technicalities here and allow them to testify.
It is also about time the Senate Impeachment Court direct the opening of the dollar accounts of the Coronas again for the sake of seeking the truth. I know many lawyers would be arguing against these two proposals, but what is of utmost importance is helping find the truth because that is the responsibility and mandate of the impeachment court.
It is expected that the defense will again run to the Supreme Court for relief from the possible action that the impeachment court will take but that may be detrimental to the cause of the Chief Justice. Let us see if the Chief Justice will walk his talk.
By the way, the Chief Justice also asserted that the dissenting opinion of Associate Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno against the issuance of a restraining order that neutralized the Justice Department’s travel ban against former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was basically a lie.
That is practically an attack on Sereno’s integrity and credibility. I think Justice Sereno should be allowed by the impeachment court to testify. It is time for the court to assert itself and its authority as mandated by the Constitution to try and judge impeachable government officials.
