Chief Justice Renato Corona. FILE PHOTO
In a statement simply signed as Renato C. Corona issued from his hospital bed, the sacked Chief Justice said he was now accepting the calvary he had endured for the last six months.
The 63-year-old Corona, a diabetic who has been confined at The Medical City since he suffered a dizzying spell after a dramatic three-hour appearance last week in the Senate, thanked his supporters and urged the country to move forward.
“If this will be for the good of the country, I now accept the calvary we endured. Because even from the start, I was ready to lay my life for the nation,” Corona said in Filipino in a statement e-mailed to reporters.
“Therefore, I leave it up to God and to the public, who are more powerful in our democracy, my future and the future of our judiciary,” he added.
Corona insisted that he was innocent and accused the Aquino administration of using the entire government machinery to pin him down.
“My conscience is clear. But it is a sad political reality that sometimes what the majority believes to have happened is not according to what really occurred,” Corona said.
“Especially when one man or group has a grip on the entire machinery of the government, and even the media as well, and to use these to create fake documents and publish misleading information and news to destroy adversaries,” he said.
“The frequent question is, ‘If the case was strong, why invent?’” he added.
Corona said the President used Congress, Bureau of Internal Revenue, Land Registration Authority, Anti-Money Laundering Council, Office of the Ombudsman, and “others” to go after him.
He also alleged that public funds were used for a media campaign in radio, television, and the newspapers to blacken his name and that of his family.
“I accepted all of these for the independence of the judiciary, which is a very important part of our democracy … But bad politics prevailed. I am not guilty. There is no truth to the accusations against me in the Articles of Impeachment,” he said.
“I’m deeply saddened by the decision of the Senate impeachment court. As Chief Justice, I faced the challenge of impeachment head on with courage and wisdom and participated in the process according to the Constitution, in the hope that I will get the justice I’ve been seeking for the last five months,” he added.
“Our country has long been troubled by this impeachment. And tonight, I invite you to turn away from what had become the center of this show these past five months, to again rebuild the threads that were scattered, and turn our focus on the other challenges and promises of the Philippines in the next century,” Corona said.
“Let us put a stop to the politics of personal attacks. Let us put an end to the poison brought about by too much partisanship, divisiveness and uncontrolled anger,” he said.
“This is not right for our country. This is not the story of the Philippines. It is time to push forward our life as a nation,” he added.
Corona thanked the three senators—Joker Arroyo, Miriam Defensor-Santiago and Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.—for voting to acquit him.
“I also ask for forgiveness from my wife, my children and grandchildren, because in my struggle to defend the independence of the judiciary, they had to endure a calvary that they did not need to experience,” Corona said.
“Also to those who helped and supported me, I ask for forgiveness because my abilities were not enough to succeed in our hope for truth to prevail.” With reports from Tarra Quismundo and Niña Calleja
Originally posted: 6:59 pm | Tuesday, May 29th, 2012