The more President Aquino opens his mouth about the ongoing impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona, the more it becomes obvious that he is pursuing a personal vendetta rather than what he claims is a mission to remove roadblocks to his reform agenda.
In another vicious attack on Corona, Aquino basically said the rise and fall of his reform agenda defended on one man – Corona – when he stated: “We will have a hard time implementing reforms in the judiciary should the impeachment court favor Corona.”
Aquino, however, did not explain why he is making such a claim, except to say that Corona personifies the judiciary. How can one man, even if he is the Chief Justice, block his reform agenda when Corona is entitled to only one vote, just like the rest of the 14 justices? Is he saying that the other justices and the hundreds of other justices and judges do not have a mind and a conscience of their own and that they only follow the wishes of the Chief Justice? No wonder the entire judiciary and the legal community are up in arms against him.
Unlike his Cabinet, whose members are personally selected by him and can be fired if they did not follow his wishes, the Supreme Court justices pass through strict scrutiny by the Judicial and Bar Council before they are appointed by the President, and do not have to follow the dictates of the Chief Justice because they do not owe their appointment to him and they cannot be removed from office except by impeachment.
How can his reform agenda be so shallow and so weak that it has to defend on the removal of one man?
The arrogance of Aquino, an only son of a revered former President and a former senator who would have been president, is beginning to show in the midst of this impeachment trial. Like a spoiled brat who must have what he wants, Aquino is adamant that Corona has not been removed until now, almost a month since the House of Representatives – obviously acting on his orders – hastily turned over to the Senate an impeachment complaint that is turning out to be as weak and as shallow as Aquino’s supposed reform agenda.
Patience is never a virtue of spoiled sons of the wealthy and the powerful. The lengthy trial has already tested the patience of Aquino, and it’s not even halfway through. The President wants Corona convicted even before Corona and the defense panel could be given their day in court. It is the folly of the impeachment trial that the prosecution must first present its evidence and argue its case before the defense could do the same.
With Aquino and the House prosecution panel dishing out alleged evidence and arguing their case repeatedly outside of the trial, by the time the defense gets its time, Corona would have been rendered guilty in the court of public opinion.
But that obviously is the whole idea – to pressure Corona to resign before the completion of the trial, thus eliminating any possibility of a not-guilty verdict by an independent Senate. Aquino and his allies did this against Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez until the latter decided it was not worth fighting it out in the impeachment court, and resigned.
However, Corona , a Batangueno, has vowed to fight for his honor till death, to the chagrin of Aquino and his flock. Dared by Aquino to reveal his bank records, Corona responded with his own challenge for Aquino to reveal his own SALN and bank records, explain the sudden rise in his net worth, and reveal his psychological records.
“Low blow!” cried Palace spokesman Edwin Lacierda as if Malacanang should have a monopoly of scathing and unwarranted attacks.
The latest verbal attacks by Aquino, aided by a PowerPoint presentation before students of La Concordia College, was not only alarming because it showed a national leader who is arrogant and impatient, but one who is willing to ignore the rule of law to pursue his own agenda.
Showing his impatience with the way the impeachment trial is going, Aquino also threw a broadside at the Senate acting as impeachment court and virtually roused the people to take matters into their own hand.
In his speech, the President expressed frustration over the lengthy legal procedural debates in the trial that, he said, were derailing the prosecution effort. He said the tight defense scrutiny appeared to be aimed at confusing the public, causing it to lose interest in the televised proceedings.
“Would Juan de la Cruz allow himself to be left out of this process? Are we going to let only a few to decide for all of us?” Aquino told the La Concordia crowd. Aquino was obviously preparing for what could be his Plan B against Corona – a possible People Power demonstration to protest a possible acquittal.
By this statement, Aquino was questioning the legality and ability of the senators, which he calls the few, to decide the fate of Corona. He is basically questioning the entire process in what he calls the confusion and delays that characterize the impeachment proceedings.
Why did he have to pressure the House to file the impeachment complaint if he did not trust the Senate or the impeachment process?
By his very words, Corona has to go because, he said, his reform agenda depended on it. He has done everything towards this end. The end justifies the means. By questioning the impeachment process and by implying that the people’s will must prevail over the trial, he was implying that if necessary, the rule of law must be ignored and the will of the people, according to his criteria, must be followed.
The call was irresponsible, to say the least. Coming from a leader who vowed to put an end to rampant transgressions of the law and the impunity with which the wealthy carry out these infractions, it is the height of hypocrisy to now cite the people’s will in his own attempt to ignore the rule of law.
Aquino has not tried to hide his despise of Corona. From the very first day he became president, he has unleashed verbal attacks on Corona. The filing of the impeachment complained followed a series of public tirades by Aquino — once in the presence of Corona — scoring Corona and the Supreme Court’s alleged partiality towards Arroyo. The high tribunal’s decision to order Hacienda Luisita to distribute the land owned by the Aquino and Cojuangco clans to the farmers obviously heightened Aquino’s anger because the verbal attacks and the subsequent filing of the impeachment complaint immediately followed the SC ruling.
Because of his high-handed attacks and maneuvers against Corona, some observers believe that behind Aquino’s lofty claim of reform agenda is a seething personal vengeance.
Aquino has lambasted everyone who has dared “block” his “reform agenda,” even picking a fight with priests who expressed concern about the impartiality of the impeachment trial. Ignoring the appeal of some senators, including Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, for him and Corona to stop their word war and to let the Senate do its job, Aquino arrogantly said he would not keep quiet about the impeachment trial as it was his right to express his opinion.
Aquino has become like a wayward train that cannot be stopped. He wants Corona removed, and it would seem he is not ready to accept defeat and he would do everything to get what he wants.
And that’s where the danger lies.
