I am not a fan of Chief Justice Renato Corona or the so-called Arroyo Court. In fact, I have criticized them many times in the past. And yet, I don’t feel good about President Noynoy Aquino’s bullying tactics against Corona, the Supreme Court and basically the entire judiciary.
It is natural for the aggrieved parties or even non-litigants to protest what they perceive to be an unfair decision of a court, but still they have to abide by the rule of law and follow constitutionally mandated procedures to try to correct a perceived wrong. They may bring their case all the way to the Supreme Court, which, under the Constitution, is the final arbiter of judicial disputes. When the legal remedies are exhausted and the aggrieved party still isn’t willing to accept the verdict and continues to defy the courts, whatever recourse the party does could be a violation of the constitution.
In the case of the recent rulings of the Supreme Court that were deemed unfavorable to the Aquino administration, the government still has legal remedies available to it, including a motion for reconsideration, but it has obviously chosen not to avail of this final remedy after alleging that the court was clearly prejudiced against the administration.
Unwilling to find legal relief from a court it claims to be biased, the Aquino administration sought this week a political solution to a judicial dispute by harnessing its enormous influence and resources in the House of Representatives to impeach the head of the judicial branch, Chief Justice Renato Corona, whom Aquino has described as the “last stumbling block” to his core reform agenda.
House Speaker Sonny Belmonte and Cavite Rep. Joseph Abaya revealed that a “furious” President Aquino wanted a “fast” impeachment against Corona after he and seven other Arroyo appointees had issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) to block the travel ban against Arroyo.
“He was infuriated after the SC issued the TRO. He called me up and told me how he felt bad that the SC was intervening on behalf of Arroyo. He felt that this should stop,” Belmonte said in an interview.
The statements of Belmonte and Abaya exposed the hypocrisy and hideousness of Malacañang when presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte denied that Aquino had anything to do with the impeachment of Corona and said “any action taken by members of the Liberal Party at the House of Representatives on proposals to impeach Chief Justice Renato Corona is independent of the stand of President Aquino.” Valte said they had heard reports about impeachment plots against Corona but were not aware of the origin of the reports.
Aquino the next day basically admitted before a caucus of the Liberal Party at the Shangri-la Hotel – a thanksgiving party actually – that he had a direct hand in the filing of the impeachment complaint, and even said that he would personally work to get the Senate votes to impeach Corona.
Aquino has made this campaign to oust Corona a personal crusade, and that’s where the danger lies – the leader of the nation using all the resources available to him to nail down someone who has peeved him. He just has to bring down this guy who he feels is making life miserable for him. And apparently he won’t stop until he has knocked him out.
When will the whining about the SC rulings stop? When he has ousted from the Supreme Court all the appointees of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo? When he has obtained a majority in the Supreme Court, and when he has converted the “Arroyo Court” into an “Aquino court?”
Aside from Corona, Justice Mariano del Castillo’s head is also on the chopping block. An impeachment complaint has been given the go-signal by the House committee on justice against Castillo for alleged plagiarism. And apparently the crackdown doesn’t stop there. Rep. Neil Tupas, one of the promoters of the impeach move, revealed that aside from Corona and Castillo, two more SC justices would also undergo impeachment for graft and corruption.
After being accused of being a wimp, Aquino is suddenly acting like a despot. One member of the majority block, Navotas Rep. Tobias Tiangco, said House leaders allied to Aquino demanded that he sign the impeachment document without the benefit of reading and studying it. “Either you sign it or you don’t sign it,” he was told.
In a privilege speech, Tiangco decried the alleged non-observance of due process in the impeachment case. He said the majority did not allow them to ask questions when the complaint was presented to the members at a caucus. Tiangco has resigned from the majority and turned independent to protest the majority’s alleged railroading of Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona’s impeachment.
Aquino justified the moves to cleanse the Supreme Court of Corona by saying there was no more hope that Corona would change and serve the interest of the people and not that of Arroyo, who appointed the Chief Justice before the end of her term in 2010. He called the Chief Justice “wayward” and said that he would not want to leave to the next generation a High Tribunal that was the “haven of irregularities.”
These are very strong words that could rally the entire judiciary to fight back, ensuring a constitutional crisis that everybody fears. After keeping silent amid the maelstrom, Corona said while he was content to let things pass a few days ago for the sake of peace and in the spirit of Christmas, his discovery of the scheme” to oust him has forced him to ask the court employees to “remain ready and vigilant.”
“My silence does not mean anything more than caution and patience. Let no one mistake my silence as a sign of weakness. I have been quietly preparing and will be ready to take more determined steps in the coming days. I want all of you to know that your Chief Justice continues to be in command and will lead the fight against any and all who dare to destroy the court and the independence of the judiciary,” he said. “We do not want to see a constitutional crisis befall our democracy but if we are challenged to defend our independence, we shall not meekly walk away.”
It won’t be as easy in the Senate because the senators are far more intelligent and independent than the House, which Tiangco correctly described as having turned into a rubber stamp of Malacanang. In the end, however, Aquino will probably win the battle because he has all the power, influence and resources to make the senators toe the line.
But what does all these do to the country’s legal system?
Several members of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) said the impeachment of the Chief Justice is an affront to the legal system. IBP general counsel Ramon Esguerra said lawyers viewed the attacks made by the President against Corona as an assault against the legal system, “and this is whether you are a friend or foe of the Chief Justice.”
“We still hear the call to oust the Chief Justice, and to a certain extent, the other appointees of the former President… We view the populist move for the ouster as mob-inspired and… with some reservations, as… extra-constitutional,” Esguerra said.
In an earlier statement signed by the IBP president, Roan Libarios, the organization of lawyers said it supported Aquino’s campaign to promote reforms, but he should also “adhere to the democratic processes.”
“As President and head of State, it is also his constitutional duty to strengthen—and not to undermine—the institutions and pillars of the justice system, which include the Supreme Court,” the group said.
Supreme Court spokesman Midas Marquez, who has been more effective than Malacanang spokesmen, said he shared with noted constitutionalist Fr. Joaquin Bernas the hope “that the justices of the Supreme Court, imperfect though they may be, will not capitulate and that others in the judiciary will not tremble in their boots and yield what is constitutionally theirs to the President. If they do, it would be tragic for our nation.”
Marquez expressed belief the impeachment proceedings’ only purpose is “to malign, to smear and to destroy the reputations of the Chief Justice, the Supreme Court, and the entire judiciary for obvious political reasons and personal ambitions.”
Once Aquino succeeds in undermining the credibility of the Supreme Court, where will the people turn to for final adjudication? Will the people have to rely on extra-constitutional processes, like People Power, each time there is a judicial question that is not satisfactory to the majority? What makes a Supreme Court stuffed with Aquino appointees different from one that has nine Arroyo appointees? Is there any guarantee that an Aquino Court would be as independent as they should be? Or will they merely become a rubber stamp or protector of Aquino as the current court has been perceived to be to Arroyo? What if the Supreme Court declares the impeachment move unconstitutional before the Senate completes its trial? Will Aquino and the Senate defy that, too, and proceed with the trial? When will all these end?
The impeachment of Corona and the planned impeachment of three other SC justices leave more questions than answers. And that what’s scary.