Please allow me to remind you first: that our people brought a new government to power because our people felt an urgent need for change. That change was nothing more and nothing less than that of moving quickly into a new moral order.
“The people believed that when we said we would be the exact opposite of Marcos, we would be just that. Because of that promise, our triumph over Marcos was anchored on a principle of morality. It was not rice, roads, bridges, water, electricity and such other mundane things that people expected of us. It was, and is much more. A moral order led by you, Cory.”
That was what Chino Roces said when he felt Cory was falling short of the people’s expectations. Ironically, the occasion was Chino’s conferment of the Legion of Honor, degree of Chief of Commander, by the president herself. But no one among Cory’s political allies and media friends said that given the occasion, Chino’s response was inappropriate, that he was disrespectful. Cory and her allies humbly acknowledged Chino’s reminder.
Noynoy Aquino anchored his presidential bid on the promise that if elected he would send Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and all her accomplices in the plunder of the nation’s treasury to jail. I believed him as did 15 million voters. Thus, he triumphed overwhelmingly over GMA’s candidate, whoever he was.
At the National Justice Criminal Summit, President Noynoy Aquino said that Chief Justice Renato Corona has been an obstruction to his (PNoy’s)pursuit of his campaign promise. GMA’s toadies in Congress and sycophants in media cried “foul” over the president’s lament. They said it was the wrong occasion because the remarks were made in the presence of Corona, a convenor of the summit, in effect co-host of the affair, and because the event was for the purpose of calling for cooperation and coordination among agencies of the justice system, not for citing who is remiss.
That only revealed the true character of GMA’s minions in Congress and in media. As if cued by a green light or a buzzer, they howl in protest the instant any of her protectors is taken to task. Precisely because of the purpose of the summit, PNoy’s call for Corona to cooperate in the pursuit of justice instead of being an obstruction was most appropriate for the occasion.
Anyway, I wanted very much to hear the response of Corona to the issues raised against him by President Aquino, in particular the issue of Corona’s illegal appointment as chief justice. The Constitution says that two months immediately before the next presidential elections, and up to the end of his term, the President shall not make appointments, except temporary appointments to executive positions when continued vacancies thereon will prejudice public service or endanger public safety. Corona was appointed chief justice two days after the elections and before the end of GMA’s term, in contravention of the cited provision of the Constitution.
While Corona told his reporters he would let the president’s remarks be because it is almost Christmas, I thought it was more prudence than goodwill that dictated him to hold his peace. I was certain he would have difficulty justifying his appointment as chief justice. His apologists, notably his squire Midas Marquez (he was jumping and running during the rally for Corona), could only say Corona did not appoint himself chief justice, implicitly absolving him of violation of the Constitution. But by accepting the position, Corona became party to the transgression of the Constitution. The silence of the associations of judges, the union of civil libertarians, and that school of men and women for others who all now invoke the rule of law was deafening.
When the House of Representatives impeached Corona more or less of the same wrongdoings that PNoy leveled against him, he was forced to respond in public. Speaking before his summoned associates in the Supreme Court, RTC judges, clerks of courts, and other personnel of the judiciary, he said he was going to answer the charges point by point.
I waited with bated breath for his answers to the issues of his illegal appointment as chief justice, the issuance of a status quo ante order against the House of Representatives in the case concerning the impeachment of Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, and failure to disclose to the public his statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth.
I cite above the provision in the Constitution that pertains to midnight appointments. The Constitution also says that the House of Representatives shall have the exclusive power to initiate all cases of impeachment and that members of the Supreme Court shall disclose their assets, liabilities, and net worth to the public.
Corona did not answer the complaints point by point as he said he would. On his appointment as chief justice, he said the appointment went through the process in that he was nominated by the Judicial and Bar Council then chaired by Chief Justice Reynato Puno. Nowhere in the Constitution is nomination by the JBC said to be an exception to the provision on midnight appointments.
About his SALN, he simply said he has declared that every year. His squire Midas very recently admitted that Corona’s decision not to disclose his SALN was pursuant to the resolution approved by the tribunal then headed by Andres Narvasa. He arrogantly told the President and his allies to appeal the tribunal’s resolution instead of taunting Corona. But the Constitution specifically says the SALN disclosure should be made to the public.
Again, the silence of the associations of judges, the union of civil libertarians, and that school of men and women for others who all now invoke the rule of law was deafening on these transgressions of the Constitution.
The association of judges in their declaration asserted that decisions of the Supreme Court are under our civil law part of the law of our land and are binding as precedents. So, in effect, the Corona Court is enacting new laws that are contrary to the provisions of the basic law of the land -- the Constitution.
But as constitutionalist Joaquin Bernas pointed out in his column “Sovereignty of the People,” our Constitution begins with the assertion that “The Philippines is a democratic and republican state. Sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority emanates from them.” He added that the sovereign people assert their sovereignty in two distinct processes, the first through the vote in a plebiscite ratifying the Constitution, that through this process the people express in a permanent manner what the power of government should be, what the limitations are, how the people who are to exercise the powers of sovereignty are to be chosen and what the extent and limits of their power are.
The Corona Court has therefore usurped the authority of the sovereign people of the Philippines by revising provisions of the Constitution. I am glad I am not a member of the Bar, otherwise with that last statement I would soon be feeling the wrath of the Corona Court. Or would I still feel judicial muscle hustling me?
The Men and Women for Others stated that the independence of the Judiciary is the very foundation of the Rule of Law. Destroy it and our People will have nowhere to seek redress and justice. But it is precisely the lack of independence of the Corona Court that is at issue. The Corona Court has destroyed itself by being subservient to the wishes of its patron -- GMA. With Corona heading the court, the people have not been able to bring GMA to justice.
The Integrated Bar of the Philippines stated that it is constitutional duty of the President as head of state to strengthen the institutions of the justice system which includes the Supreme Court. That was the message of PNoy at the National Justice Criminal Summit -- remove Corona from the Supreme Court to strengthen it.
The judges associations ask that their juridical actions be given the respect and regard the Constitution entitles them to. Respect and regard are not bestowed by the Constitution. They are earned from the people. In fact, the judges lost the respect of the people long ago. They have had the reputation of being the best judges money can buy. Their abandoning their post last week, on the mere directive of Corona’s squire Midas, to listen to Corona whimper only revealed the weakness of their character.
