“ Pera, kapangyarihan at away pamilya..ito ang ugat ng istorya “ said Senator-Judge Edgardo Angara in explaining his GUILTY vote to oust Chief Justice Renato Corona., the first ever highest magistrate in Philippine history to be removed from office.
The impeachment, which took almost five months started out as a soap opera with Filipinos glued and keeping tab of the latest developments but ended in an historic landmark decision that could well usher in a new era of morality among government officials, elected and appointed.
The senate, acting as an Impeachment court finally voted 20-3 in favor of ousting Corona as chief justice.
Corona ,whom many believed was a close ally of former pres. Gloria Arroyo (herself facing several charges) was a midnight appointee of the former president but drew the ire of then newly elected President Noynoy Aquino who suspected that his appointment was engineered to insulate ex-President Arroyo from future charges when she exits office.
As the impeachment process dragged on, it was discovered that Corona kept undeclared amounts of US dollar accounts amounting to almost $ 12.5 million but which he himself admitted in the witness stand that it was only $2.5 million but failed to declare it in the required Statement of Assets and Liabilities and Net worth (SALN)required for government officials. In the end, it proved to be his undoing.
Too, his dramatic “walkout “which he described as a “hypoglycemic attack “(he is a diabetic) drew the ire of most of the senator -judges and swayed the decisions of most of them to give him the guilty verdict. It was this seeming disrespect of the senate body that even Presiding Judge Juan Ponce Enrile was compelled to vote against him.
But if its any source of inspiration, Corona’s conviction could now open a Pandora’s box of secret bank accounts in foreign lands and as well as properties and other assets believed to be ill-gotten by some corrupt government officials and military and police personnel. Think of the cases of former Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) comptroller Carlos Garcia whose wife and children were caught with hundreds of thousands of US dollars in San Francisco airport with the wife declaring boldly to US customs officers that the money was gifts to her husband as a military officer. Another military official Jacinto Ligot is said to have amassed properties in California, USA and high end condominiums worth millions on a paltry salary of a minor military officer. He is currently facing charges.
Its an open secret that many of government functionaries specially those from the well known to be corrupt government departments like the Bureau of Customs, Bureau of Internal Revenue, Public Works and others have amassed unexplained wealth way beyond their salaries. The key words are kickbacks, bribes, orbits (a slang for striking a shady deal involving a lot of money usually through illegal ways such as smuggling) and price padding, to name a few.
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ENRILE’s SHINING HOUR: The Corona impeachment proceedings and its landmark conclusion could not have been possible without the superb expertise and fair handling by one person who steered the now historic 2012 Corona Impeachment.
Senate president Juan Ponce Enrile said the latest exercise was the second biggest challenge he faced in his long political career since the 1986 EDSA Revolution when he and then Gen. Fidel Ramos, led the breakaway from then dictator Marcos and put their lives on the line.
At his age of 88 years old, Enrile has shown sharpness of mind, firm conviction and principle in handling the impeachment court trial.
A seasoned lawyer who led the biggest law firm in the country, Enrile as presiding judge, drew the admiration of both the prosecution and the defense for his deep knowledge of court rules and procedures, at the same time displaying fairness, objectivity
and steadfastness in making decisions and rulings from the chair as presiding judge.
Were he much younger today , he could easily be a strong contender for the president of the Philippines in 2016.
At the twilight of his illustrious career in public service where he was hailed as a hero (EDSA 1986), demonized as a heel (for allegedly masterminding coup d’états against Cory Aquino) and now again as a hero. Enrile will be riding in the sunset in the most shining moment of his life , perhaps the best remembered by both his peers and the people.
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