Noy asks: ‘Should we let a few to decide’ on Corona?

President Aquino appears to be laying the groundwork for a massive mobilization to pressure Chief Justice Renato Corona to step down as head of the Supreme Court and in the process disregard the Senate court proceedings based on his speech commemorating the 26th anniversary of the 1986 People Power Revolution.

Aquino claimed Corona continues to trick the people with his “blatant lies” while asking his listeners at the La Consolacion College in Manila if they would allow “a few to decide for the rest of the nation.” It was not definite who the handful Aquino is referring to but the Senate court, composed of Senator judges, is currently trying Corona based on eight articles of impeachment that 188 members of the House of Representatives voted to immediately transmit to the Senate.

Interestingly, Aquino hinted at the call for a new mob assembly in a school where his mother, the late President Corazon Aquino, first made an appeal of People Power Revolution 26 years ago.

Aquino called Corona a liar, saying that some groups are out to deceive and mislead the public about the ongoing Corona impeachment trial, even as he assailed “a daily newspaper” as among them.

“Make clear what is needed to be clarified and straighten the issues that are being derailed by a few to allow the common people to have a clear understanding and to

participate in the discussion of the issues,” Aquino said.

He continues to allege that Corona is using his position to protect former President Gloria Arroyo while citing the Supreme Court’s decision to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) on a travel ban imposed against her that he is blaming Corona solely responsible for it.

“Let us remember, it was the Chief Justice himself who insisted that Mrs. Arroyo can leave the country. The electoral sabotage case filed against her, which happened in 2007 (was the reason Arroyo was prevented from leaving),” Aquino said.

Aquino asserted that Corona lied in his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALn), which is one of the impeachment charges against him, something which is part of the issues in the impeachment trial and which the Senator judges had not ruled on yet.

Aquino likewise cited a 1997 case wherein court interpreter Delsa Flores from Davao was fired for failing to declare in her SALn a market stall she owned. He said the same strict standards should be used in the case of Corona .

He also dared the Chief Justice again to disclose his true wealth.

The President said Corona was only appointed Chief Justice to cover up the alleged wrongdoings of the Arroyo administration.

Aquino also urged the public to rally behind his campaign to oust the nation’s top judge, warning the fight against widespread corruption will hinge on this.

Invoking the famous “people power” revolution that installed his late mother to the presidency in 1986, Aquino said ordinary Filipinos had the power to ensure Corona was removed from office.

“We should not allow ourselves to become victims of injustice. We must take a stand now,” Aquino told a town-hall-style meeting with students at a Catholic college in Manila.

He did not say specifically how the masses could take a stand.

But he recalled how supporters of his late mother, Corazon Aquino, forced then dictator Ferdinand Marcos into exile by protesting peacefully, waging a “civil disobedience campaign” and boycotting firms linked to the strongman.

Aquino said he trusted the impeachment process, but he wants the public to understand that Corona and his backers were using a wide range of tactics in an effort to derail the case.

Aquino said that if the Senate acquitted Corona, it would virtually destroy his efforts to rid the country of corruption.

“Extremely difficult, if not impossible,” he replied to a question from a law student about such a prospect.

“It (Corona acquittal) will admittedly be difficult for me to implement the reform agenda but it remains possible”, Aquino said when asked by a student who was picked to hurl one of the questions from the academic sector.

Aquino also criticized anew Chief Justice Renato Corona for the mismatch between Corona’s SALn and the assets discovered to be under the chief magistrate’s name.

“Mr. Corona, it seems clearer than the sunshine that the recent discoveries on your properties and finances are far from what you declared in the SALn. Your P 3.5 million SALn declaration is far from P 31.5 million,” Aquino said.

Moreover, Aquino assailed what he said were efforts of Corona’s camp to muddle the issues in the impeachment process, even as he claimed that his confidence in the impeachment process remains and he will not allow some personalities to divert the issue.

“I chose to keep mum and just observe on this issue because I still believe in the integrity of the impeachment process. There have been many issues that are intentionally brought up before the media either to confuse the people or compel us to lose interest over it,” he said.

He likewise made a public appeal, which appears to be the government’s counter call on Corona’s appeal for vigilance in ensuring that democracy remains in effect.

In his speech, Aquino said the main issue is if Corona is still worth the trust of the people and that could be answered with the pieces of evidence presented so far in the trial, such as the latter’s SALn. He said Corona’s filing of the SALn is not enough as it has to be scrutinized.

Aquino noted the discrepancy in the amount Corona declared in his SALn and the money in his PSBank and BPI.

“In 2010, he declared to have P3.5 million cash, but testimonies from the PSBank President and the BPI branch manager says otherwise, and to think what they divulged are just three Corona accounts. He didn’t declare P31.5 million,” Aquino was quoted as saying.

Citing the case of a certain Elsa Flores, a court interpreter from the Davao Regional Trial Court, who was sacked in 1997 for violation of the Republic Act 6713 or Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees for her failure to declare her income from a market stall that she owned, Aquino further stressed that Corona isn’t in anyway exempted from the ruling.

He added that if Corona has nothing to hide, he should personally take the initiative to open his dollar accounts. –Fernan J. Angeles and AFP, Daily Tribune