Corona expects more attacks from Aquino, says he’s moved on

Former Chief Justice Renato Corona PHOTO BY : JUNNY ROY / DAILY TRIBUNE / SENATE POOL

CEBU CITY—Former Chief Justice Renato Corona expects to be a target of attacks when President Benigno Aquino delivers his State of the Nation Address (Sona) on July 23.

Corona told reporters here on Wednesday that he was informed by his friends in Malacañang that criticisms against him were part of the President’s annual address to the country.

“Actually, this is nothing new,” Corona said, noting that he has been getting constant attacks from the President even after the Senate voted to remove him from office on May 29. “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 impeachment, said he has forgiven those who had worked to take him out of the Supreme Court, including officials in Malacañang.

Corona was in Cebu on invitation of his  friend Nonito Limchua, chief operating officer of Cebu Catholic Television Network.

“The more I think about the difficult months my family and I went through, the more I call on God. You can’t call on God to help you without forgiving. That’s all part of being a Christian,” he said.

Corona said he has moved on and is spending more time with his family, especially his wife Cristina.

“We have more time to go on dates now,” he said.

Corona said his time with his family was limited when he was chief justice because work always got in the way.

“But now I have all the time. We have breakfast, lunch and dinner together. We go to the mall. We go to the movies. We spend a lot of time with the children,” he said.

Corona said that with legal decisions out of the way, he has all the time to read books and watch movies from his wide collection of DVDs.

He said he’s also contemplating going back to teaching.