Former Chief Justice Renato Corona PHOTO BY : JUNNY ROY / DAILY TRIBUNE / SENATE POOL
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Former Chief Justice Renato Corona expects to be a target of attacks by President Benigno Aquino III in his State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday (July 23).
Corona told reporters here on Wednesday afternoon that he was told by his friends in Malacañang that criticisms against him would be part of the President’s annual address to the country.
“Actually, this is nothing new since my impeachment on May 29, the President has actually come out still swinging against me,” he said. “There is nothing that I can do if he wants to do that.”
Corona, who was the first Chief Justice to be removed from office through an impeachment, said he has forgiven those who worked to take him out of the Supreme Court.
These included the officials in Malacañang, said Corona, who was in Cebu on invitation of his good friend, Nonito Limchua, chief operating officer of the Cebu Catholic Television Network.
“Through all the difficult months my family and I went through, the more I think about it, the more I call God. You can’t call God to help you without forgiving. That’s all part of being a Christian,” he said.
“I would not wish on these people the very same things they did to me. I was not angry from the very start. It was just disappointment,” he added.
Corona said he has moved on and has been spending time with his family, especially his wife, Cristina.
“We have had time to go on a date more often now,” he said.
Corona said that when he was chief justice, his time with his family was always limited and work always got in the way.
“But now I have all the time. We take lunch together, breakfast, lunch, dinner. We go out on a date. We go to the mall. We go to the movies, spend a lot of time with the children,” he said.
Corona said he has found time to read books, unlike the time when he was chief justice when all he could read were legal decisions. He has also found time to watch his wide collection of DVDs, which he and his wife bought in their travels abroad.
He might even go back to teaching although he didn’t’ see himself teaching a regular school.
He, however, admitted that he missed his colleagues and employees in the Supreme Court.