Ex-Chief Justice Corona won’t appeal conviction

Chief Justice Renato Corona

Fearing a potential constitutional crisis, Renato Corona has decided against challenging his ouster as Chief Justice by the Senate impeachment tribunal, his lawyer said Thursday.

Tranquil Salvador III said Corona, who went down in history as the country’s first Chief Justice to be fired, felt it would be better for him, his family and the country if he would forgo pursuing any legal remedy questioning Tuesday’s 20-3 vote convicting him of lying in his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN).

“He feels that this is the right thing to do since he did not take advantage of his position. He did not do harm to anyone,” Salvador told the Philippine Daily Inquirer over the phone.

“(Corona) wanted to avoid what others think would be a possible constitutional crisis. He was thinking of the best interest of the country,” the lawyer said.

“He said he’s already taken the  high ground when he waived (the confidentiality on) his bank accounts and disclosed what he had to disclose.”

Salvador said he spoke for 30 minutes yesterday morning with Corona in his hospital room at The Medical City, where he was taken after a spell of dizziness as a result of low blood sugar during his three-hour testimony in the Senate last week.

He said he was surprised when Corona told him that he was no longer interested in filing a petition for certiorari in the Supreme Court.

“He felt that he had to close this chapter of his life. But it didn’t mean that he would no longer pursue his (legal) profession,” Salvador said.

Prepared to move on

According to Salvador, Corona conferred with his wife Cristina and other members of the family before he made his decision against challenging the Senate verdict handed down on Tuesday after a four-month trial.

“I think he already had that idea. He just gave the legal team the time to study (his legal options),” he said. “It’s really for the interest of the country and so that he can already move on.”

Salvador said Corona “looked very calm and relaxed” during their conversation, adding that the former Chief Justice “was not sad at all.”

Asked if Corona was preparing for other possible cases that the Aquino administration might file against him, he said: “I think he is aware of that. He’s already preparing.”

Salvador, Corona’s fraternity brother in the Fraternal Order of Utopia at the Ateneo de Manila University’s law school, was among the members of the defense team who opposed the filing of any petition contesting the Senate’s verdict.

Senate sole judge

In a previous interview, senior defense lawyer Eduardo delos Angeles said he disagreed with the position of Corona’s lead counsel, Serafin Cuevas, who argued that their client could still bring his case to the high tribunal for review.

Delos Angeles, also a Utopia member, said it would be better for Corona to respect the Senate’s ruling “for the good of the country.”

Defense lawyers Karen Jimeno, Dennis Manalo and Rico Paolo Quicho also shared this position.

“Unless there are very compelling reasons, I think we should accept the decision,” Delos Angeles said.

As to the high court’s authority to review the Senate’s decision, Delos Angeles said that under the Constitution, the Senate was the “sole judge” of impeachment proceedings.

“What’s stated (in the Constitution) is ‘sole judge.’ Obviously, the intention of the Constitution is the Senate should decide (impeachment cases),” he said.

Delos Angeles, a former dean of the Ateneo Law School, admitted that the defense discussed the possibility of running to the Supreme Court in the early part of the trial.

“Whatever happens, I think we all should stop,” he said. “The (government) should just do what we’re supposed to do to improve and develop the country. Nothing is happening. We’re at  a standstill.”

“For me,” he added, “I’m practical enough to realize that the impeachment proceedings is also a political act.”

Deputy Speaker Lorenzo Tañada III welcomed Corona’s decision not to appeal his conviction. “We may be in different camps on the issue of his impeachment but at least this act would show that he had the country’s interest in his mind,” he said. With a report from Cynthia D. Balana