CHIEF JUSTICE Renato C. Corona was found guilty of culpable violation of the Constitution for not reporting huge dollar and peso bank deposits on his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net worth (SALN).
The conviction, handed down yesterday afternoon after a 44-day impeachment trial by the 23-member Senate, means the ouster of the chief magistrate from the Supreme Court. The senator-judges voted 20-3 for the conviction, indeed an overwhelming guilty verdict.
The fallen magistrate remained bitter about his fate until the end as could be gleaned from his two-page post-trial statement in Pilipino. In the document issued less than an hour after he was found guilty, Corona pictured himself as a victim of bad politics (“masamang pulitika”), again accusing President Aquino for marshalling the powerful institutions and machinery of government under his command against him.
At the end of his statement, Mr. Corona finally accepted, along with his family, the verdict, if it is for the good of the country (“Kung ito po ang ikabubuti ng ating bayan, tinatanggap ko na po ang kalbaryong aming pinagdaanan”). This statement gives one the feeling that Corona will no longer contest the verdict before the Supreme Court. Hopefully.
The chief magistrate, however, did something positive that could turn the tide of public opinion about him in the long run. On his second and final appearance before the impeachment court, he
signed an unconditional waiver for his bank deposits to be opened for public scrutiny. This waiver is different from the first one which was anchored on the condition that all 188 members of the House of Representatives who signed the impeachment complaint and Senator-Judge Franklin Drilon would do likewise. The Senate impeachment court, citing that it is only a hearer, not a gatherer, of facts, did not act on the belatedly submitted waiver.
Nevertheless, the action of Corona was perceived by many to be a clarion call for all officials and employees of the government to start being honest about their true net worth. A number of senators, congressmen and at least two associate justices of the Supreme Court have accepted Corona’s challenge and declared their willingness to make public their SALN and their bank deposits. Indeed, Corona’s trailblazing act could spark the dawning of a new era in public service, one that is more transparent and graft-free. There is now a snowballing move among upright government officials and civil society for all elected and appointed public servants to lay bare their SALNs for the scrutiny of all.
No one knows where this will lead to, but if it becomes a trend, Filipinos in the future will look back to this day and realize that the downfall of Chief Justice Renato C. Corona turned out to be his legacy to the country. What a beautiful irony.
