POLITICAL 7 Senate convicts Chief Justice Corona The Senate Impeachment Court, voting by an unexpectedly high 20-3, has convicted Chief Justice Renato Corona. The senators believe that the Chief Magistrate is guilty of culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust for his failure to truthfully and fully disclose his assets in his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN). It found Mr. Corona unfi t to stay on as the Chief Justice of the Republic of the Philippines. t is the first impeachment case in Philippine history to be successfully completed. I It was generally expected the vote would be close, it wasn’t. It was an overwhelming indictment of the Chief Justice. The character of the three that thought him innocent only further strengthened the indictment against him. What nailed him was his own admission of what was in his bank accounts. He argued the dollars were legitimately saved (using some strange fi nancial logic) but that wasn’t at issue. What was was that he hadn’t declared them. Claiming non-disclosure was allowed due to the confi dentiality of the Foreign Currency Deposit Act was a twisting of interpretation of a law unbecoming a lawyer, let alone the Chief Justice. Whist the “commingling” of peso deposits also defi ed that President Aquino’s fi xation on eradicating corruption reasonable belief. Even if true he should have declared as they could lead to some quite fundamental change in Philippine were listed in his assets (they were in bank accounts under his society as senior members of society realize they too may name) and then offset them with a debit item. He didn’t do so. be caught if they now don’t behave. It was a huge gamble of The Senate decision effectively removes Mr. Corona from his the president, one he has won. We can expect more to follow. position and bars him from assuming public offi ce for the rest of his life. It will be interesting to see the impact that Mr. Corona’s More than two-thirds of the Senate (only 16 votes were conviction will have on President Aquino’s popularity, an needed to convict the CJ) agree that the SALN law, which important political capital necessary to implement tough measures. requires FULL disclosure of assets including cash-in-bank, should Contrary to Mr. Corona’s claim that the impeachment override the Foreign Currency Deposits Act which, according trial was an attack on the judicial branch of government, the to Mr. Corona and his lawyers, grants absolute confi dentiality WBF believes that the impeachment was a required initial to all foreign currency deposits without qualification. step toward strengthening the integrity of the Supreme The Chief Justice’s impeachment trial is regarded as one Court, and of the country’s judiciary as a whole. The case of the current administration’s boldest moves to tackle graft has shown the dramatic decline of former president Arroyo and corruption in the Philippines. Ombudsman Gutierrez is who desperately needed to keep the fi ercely loyal Corona in out; ex-president Arroyo is under hospital arrest; and now position to protect her once her cases reach that court (as will Chief Justice Corona has just been expelled. Hopefully, these are only the beginning of a true clean-up. The WBF believes Philippine Alert May 2012 8 POLITICAL HOW THE SENATOR-JUDGES VOTED CONVICT ACQUIT 1. Juan Ponc 1. Joker Arroyo 2. Edgardo Angara 2. Miriam Defensor-Santiago 3. Alan Peter Cayetano 3. Bongbong Marcos 4. Pia Cayetano 5. Franklin Drilon 6. Francis Escudero 7. Jinggoy Estrada 8. Teofi sto Guingona lll 9. Gringo Honasan 10. Panfi lo Lacson 11. Lito Lapid 12. Loren Legarda 13. Serge Osmeña 14. Francis Pangilinan 15. Koko Pimentel 16. Ralph Recto 17. Bong Revilla 18. Tito Sotto 19. Antonio Trillanes IV 20. Manny Villar COMMON POINTS RAISED BY THE 20 SENATOR-JUDGES The CJ violated the Constitution and the SALN Law by failing to truthfully and accurately disclose assets and properties in his SALN Through his own admissions of non-disclosure before the SIC, Mr. Corona effectively admitted violating the Constitution and the SALN Law. It was his own testimony that was used against him. There is no exception to the requirement for full public disclosure; the law applies equally to all public offi cials (a comparison given was Delsa Flores, a court employee who was removed from offi ce for failure to declare ownership of a small market stall) Sen. Legarda: Truthful declaration in a SALN is a key element of transparency; acquittal could cast widespread doubt on credibility and distrust in the institution of the SC Sen. Pangilinan: non-disclosures showed a pattern of dishonesty Senators Drilon and Escudero: FCDU confi dentiality provision prohibits banks from disclosing information, but not depositors Sen. Honasan: Even though the prosecution failed to prove bad faith in non-disclosure; doubts now raised on the character of the CJ render him unfi t to preside over the SC Sen. Lacson: The high standard of the post occupied rendered the CJ morally unfi t to hold that position due to inaccurate statements before the SIC Sen. Lapid: Public prosecutor Fariñas’ arguments more believable Sen. Recto: The issue boils down to the degree of miscalculation as minor discrepancies are acceptable, but the huge amount of the CJ’s undisclosed assets was not an “innocent exclusion” happen). The other Arroyo–appointed justices will now be far the rushed vote of the lower House to impeach and, questioned more circumspect in their decision-making. As it is Justice if falsifi cation of a SALN (if it did occur) was suffi cient cause del Castillo has a petition for impeachment for plagiarism to remove a Chief Justice from offi ce. On this several senators hanging over him. It wouldn’t take much to make it active. quoted previous cases where lesser public servants had been With Mr. Corona removed from offi ce, now is the most terminated for much lesser amounts of discrepancy in their opportune time to introduce reforms to the judiciary (e.g. hire SALN. The 3 Senators cited technicalities which do not hold more judges and court personnel and increase their pay; and invite in a quasi-political, quasi-judicial impeachment process. experts or “friends of court” when deciding on business-related The WBF believes that an acquittal of CJ Corona would cases). It’s time for a complete shake-up of the Philippine court have set a very dangerous precedent as far as disclosing assets system in its entirety, not just removal of one man. CJ Corona’s is concerned. Corrupt offi cials, for instance, would have a conviction could be the catalyst for that much-needed reform. fi eld day concealing their wealth as all they need to do is to Only Senators Joker Arroyo, Miriam Defensor-Santiago, convert their peso accounts into foreign currency deposits. and Bongbong Marcos voted to acquit the Chief Justice. Mr. Corona’s credibility had been severely tarnished, even They failed to recognize the larger issue of what was best before the start of the proceedings. For him to be acquitted and to for society as they got tangled in details of legitimacy of the hold on to power would have greatly undermined the credibility sourcing of documents, whether due process was met given of the Senate, the Supreme Court and the entire judiciary. Philippine Alert May 2012 POLITICAL 9 From the beginning we stressed that Mr. Corona’s acceptance Lead defense counsel Serafi n Cuevas said his team is of a midnight appointment with glaringly obvious political motives looking at elevating the results of the impeachment proceedings from a leader who will no longer be there was behavior unbecoming to the Supreme Court. The defense panel has argued that the the chief justice of a nation. An honorable man would have politely impeachment complaint should be considered invalid as it deprived declined and left it to the next president to make the choice. It the CJ of due process and that a mistrial must be declared. If the was that that (rightly) angered President Aquino and triggered the defense attempts that route it triggers a constitutional crisis that campaign to have him removed from offi ce. The SC decision on could have far-reaching affect on the roles of the three branches Hacienda Luisita was peripheral to that, if it was an issue at all. of government. There seems little doubt but that the Senate As we mentioned in our previous bulletin, he should’ve would reject any challenge to the legitimacy of the proceedings, resigned from the outset. He could’ve saved the country and ignore any Supreme Court decision made otherwise. from all this divisiveness and dissension. And he could The SC would lose, and lose much of its stature and power. have retained his reputation. Now he’s a finished man In our maiden bulletin we pointed out that the impeachment unable to hold any public offi ce ever again, and likely to of the Chief Justice will determine whether President Aquino fi nd diffi culty in moving successfully into the private sector. will be able to bring some societal change into the Philippines, or What the impeachment case uncovered now raises the not. That reform might just come now after Corona’s conviction. question of how did the Chief Justice amass so much wealth Chief Justice Renato Corona’s removal is a continuation - $2.4 million and P80 million on his salary of P70,000 per of the cleansing the Philippines so desperately needs.