Lopsided voting, stronger judiciary

Last Tuesday the Senate made history when it finally convicted Chief Justice Renato C. Corona and found him guilty of the impeachment complaint filed against him in the Impeachment Court after 44 days of hearing.

With  20 senators-judges voting for conviction against the three  votes for acquittal, the vote last Tuesday was unexpectedly lopsided. Most of the senators  found the chief justice guilty for not disclosing his total and complete assets in his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth as required by law and the constitution.

I think what did Corona in was that he underdeclared in  his SALN that his total assets were  P3.5 million. He didn’t disclose his dollar accounts believing they were exempt from public disclosure under the  foreign currency secrecy law. But by his own admission, he has  dollar accounts worth about $3.4 million and  P80 million  in his peso accounts. His justification for not disclosing his P80 million peso account was that it was a commingled account with Basa-Quidote Enterprises and his daughter Carla.

The senator-judges emphasized that the Supreme Court dismissed a lowly court employee for failure to disclose a market stall  in her SALN so if  the SC was very strict with her,  how much for a learned chief justice.

The impeachment court just applied jurisprudence equally and similarly in the case of Corona.

While some supporters of Corona  disagree  with the decision,  I would like to invite them read the decision of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and note the fact that  the vote was practically lopsided. Aquino’s detractors continue to peddle the wrong belief that Corona’s conviction  would destroy the independence of the judiciary even if there is  no showing that this is indeed happening.

As a matter of fact, many believe the oppositte will happen, that the conviction of Corona will revive the integrity and credibility of the judiciary even as it gives life to the anti-corruption advocacy of the administration of President Aquino.

I think Corona’s  supporters  should be like the chief justice, accept the verdict, and move on with their lives.

Today the greatest challenge of the Aquino administration is to appoint an independent chief justice. Another challenge was made by Sen. Chiz  Escudero who dared  the President to  sign a waiver to open his bank accounts. The President in  response  refused, saying there was no need for that because he already  authorized the Office of the Ombudsman to look into his assets  when he signed the SALN.

He also denied maintaining  a dollar account.

I think some of the congressmen who are demanding that the President sign a bank waiver are  overdoing it for pogi points. Aquino has  no track record of corruption unlike many of the legislators.

I’m  happy that some    senators and congressmen  signed  waivers that would open their bank accounts to scrutiny and not only that the Supreme Court has agreed to disclose publicly the SALN of judges nationwide.

Many would agree with me that Corona’s  conviction has restored public trust in the judiciary. I believe Corona’s ouster will definitely not destroy the independence of the judiciary but will only strengthen it.

But let me reiterate that President Aquino has to appoint an independent, honest and credible successor.

While some sectors object to  Justice Antonio Carpio, the OIC, I ask why not?  Carpio showed his integrity when he declined the nomination of former president Gloria Arroyo to be the next chief justice on the ground that such a midnight appointment would violate the Constitution.

Be that as it may, we hope the President is  guided properly in appointing the new chief justice of the Supreme Court.