Posted by admin on June 4, 2012
WITH the initial hint from President Aquino he’d appoint an independent chief justice, maybe a Supreme Court (SC) outsider, there’s little for speculators to work on.
But it wouldn’t be reckless to assume the next Renato Corona wouldn’t be:
–Anyone resembling Renato Corona, who looks, talks, and walks like him, not one who hoards dollars, or has a 30-year feud with his wife’s family; (Read more)
Posted by admin on June 4, 2012
THERE appears to be a rush to require government officials to sign bank waivers to allow public scrutiny of their financial worth.
Those to be considered for the post of Supreme Court Chief Justice will have to sign such waivers, a member of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) said. Lawyer Milagros Cayosa, representative of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines to the JBC, said the waiver would be for purposes of evaluation by the council. (Read more)
Posted by admin on June 3, 2012
The lead public prosecutor in the impeachment trial of ousted Chief Justice Renato Corona said the government should continue to probe the former Supreme Court (SC) official despite his removal from office.
“The Ombudsman should continue the investigation using the evidence submitted by the prosecution to the Senate,” prosecutor and Representative Niel Tupas Jr. (Iloilo) said in a text message. (Read more)
Posted by admin on June 3, 2012
Former Chief Justice Renato Corona said Sunday he has no regrets making a stand for the cause of judicial independence and called for wider transparency in government service.
Corona, who was removed from his post Tuesday last week after the Senate impeachment court found him guilty of betraying the public trust and committing culpable violation for failing to truthfully declare his assets and net worth, said the quest for transparency does not end with his ouster. (Read more)
Posted by admin on June 3, 2012
SENATOR Miriam Defensor Santiago told President Benigno Aquino III to expect a backlash if he decides to appoint a political ally as replacement to deposed Chief Justice Renato Corona.
Santiago, who voted against Corona’s conviction last May 29, said Aquino will only prove his critics right that the end goal of removing the ex-magistrate was to sworn in a Palace-friendly candidate. (Read more)
Posted by admin on June 3, 2012
TEN days before the Impeachment Court’s promulgation of verdict on CJ Corona, Malacañang was not certain if the Prosecution could muster 16 votes from the senator-judges needed for conviction.
The most number that the Palace can get from the 23 jurors was 11, with nine (9) uncertain as to their judgment. (Read more)
Posted by admin on June 3, 2012
GUILTY means the Senate is beholden to Malacañang. Not guilty means the Senate is independent. This was how the politically-wired mind of former senator Ernie Maceda framed the Senate impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona last January.
I was at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport terminal together with some members of the Cebu media during a Sinulog-related event when suddenly Maceda emerged from the throng of tourists at the international arrival area. Ambushed by reporters present, the former senator pointed out that the administration of President Noynoy Aquino had no numbers to convict. It was easier for the Corona camp to get eight senators for acquittal. (Read more)
Posted by admin on June 2, 2012
President Benigno Aquino III on Friday expressed readiness to break the tradition and appoint an outsider to the highest post in the judiciary.
“If I remember the Constitution correctly, it is stated there that the Judicial and Bar Council will give me a list and that’s where I will choose but there is no injunction there that limits it to current members of the Supreme Court,” Aquino said in an interview during the First River Summit in Iloilo City. (Read more)
Posted by admin on June 2, 2012
PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III may name the new Supreme Court Chief Justice earlier than expected, Malacanang said on Saturday.
“The President has 90 days to make a decision. I don’t think he will use up the entire 90 days, although he is not in a hurry,” presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said in an interview over dzRB Radyo ng Bayan. (Read more)
Posted by admin on June 2, 2012
RENATO Corona has been impeached. The truth has triumphed. The nation has won. Finally. And it was neither the brilliance of the prosecution nor the ineptitude of the defense that brought about the chief justice’s conviction. Predictably, it was Corona’s galling arrogance that brought about his own downfall.
The defense panel admittedly committed a fatal flaw in summoning Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales to the stand as hostile witness but beyond the Ombudsman’s damning testimony, the chief justice tied the noose around his neck all by himself. (Read more)
Posted by admin on June 2, 2012
ONE aspect of Chief Justice Renato Corona’s impeachment trial was the widespread use of technology innovations that kept Filipinos here and abroad updated.
Those in meetings, commuting or out of the country found ways to watch those crucial trial moments on Corona’s testimony and the court’s verdict. (Read more)
Posted by admin on June 2, 2012
I BELIEVE it is our duty to resolve this ‘dilemma’ in favor of upholding the law and sound public policy,” said Senator-judge Juan Ponce Enrile, the presiding officer of the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona. Enrile announced Corona guilty in a count of 20 senator-judges voting against 3.
While it lasted, the session of the impeachment trial was in everybody’s life for months, day in, day out. (Read more)
Posted by admin on June 1, 2012
A MEMBER of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) sees no need for the next Chief Justice to sign a waiver on bank accounts.
However, Iloilo Representative Niel Tupas Jr., a member of JBC, said the next head of the Supreme Court should be truthful in the declaration of his assets and net worth. (Read more)
Posted by admin on May 31, 2012
The Supreme Court (SC) approved on Wednesday the public disclosure of assets statements of judges and justices, but guidelines for such release will have to be discussed in a special en banc session on June 13.
All SC justices, except for Lucas Bersamin and Diosdado Peralta who were both in Baguio City for a pre-scheduled lecture, approved the move to disclose their statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) for 2011. (Read more)
How the Senator-Judges voted on Article II (Concealing of some of his properties and cash deposits in his SALN |
|
| Senators | Vote |
 Edgardo J. Angara |
"I may grant the CJ plea of honest mistake of judgment but given his broad experience in public law…this willful and deliberate admission together with magnitude of amounts involved amounts to culpable violation." |
 Joker P. Arroyo |
NOT GUILTY "Impeachment is a political process not a political assassination" |
 Alan Peter S. Cayetano |
"If your client cannot explain, I cannot abstain."
|
 Pia S. Cayetano |
"Minor inaccuracies in the SALN...would not amount to betrayal of public trust. But, the failure to declare 2.4 million dollars and some P80 Million pesos is not minor...Once that trust is gone, we must step down to preserve the integrity of the position we hold." |
 Miriam Defensor Santiago |
"An omission in good faith in the SALN carries a light penalty, and is even allowed to be corrected. Thus, it is not impeachable...I find it reprehensible that the AMLA document was introduced in evidence, without authentication, as required by the Rules of Evidence." |
 Franklin M. Drilon |
"Where our Constitution and our laws require disclosure, he chose the path of concealment. He has lost his moral fitness to serve the people. He has betrayed the public trust. He cannot be Chief Justice a minute longer. " |
 Juan Ponce Enrile |
"With all due respect, I believe that the Respondent Chief Justice's reliance on the absolute confidentiality accorded to foreign currency deposits under Section 8 of Republic Act No. 6426 is grossly misplaced." |
 Francis G. Escudero |
"Ang pinagbabawalan ng FCDU law na mag-release ng impormasyon ukol sa dollar deposits ay ang mga bangko at di ang depositor. Samantala, ang Konstitusyon at R.A. 6713, pinag-uutos na ideklara ng lahat ng opisyal ng pamahalaan ang lahat ng kanilang yaman at pagkakautang. Kung ayaw mo ito ideklara, eh di huwag kang tumakbo para sa, o tumanggap ng anumang, pwesto sa pamahalaan. " |
 Jinggoy Estrada |
"I regret to say that I am not convinced. Because the Chief Justice is a learned man of law. He is in fact, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court - isang opisyal na hindi lamang malalim ang kaalaman sa batas, kundi isang opisyal na may tungkuling basahin kung ano ang ibig sabihin ng mga batas." |
 Teofisto Guingona III |
"We must protect sanctity of Constitution. Corona's non-disclosure of assets is constitutional perversion in its ultimate form." |
 Gregorio B. Honasan II |
GUILTY "We have not proven if the defendant is corrupt. What is clear is that he is no longer fit to preside over the SC." |
 Panfilo M. Lacson |
"Chief Justice Renato Corona used to work as a senior officer of the tax and corporate counseling group of the tax division of a prominent accounting firm, Sycip Gorres and Velayo and Company. He also taught commercial law, taxation and corporate law at the Ateneo de Manila University for 17 years. I find it hard to believe his testimony that he does not understand accounting." |
 Manuel M. Lapid |
GUILTY "Akala ko totooo ang sinabi niya hindi pala. Pinapaniwalaan ko pa si Congressman Fariñas." |
 Loren B. Legarda |
GUILTY "Truthful SALN disclosure is key element of transparent governance..Public trust is earned through transparent, often voluntary, gestures of honesty by officials in question." |
 Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. |
"The Chief Justice sufficiently addressed the accusations against him with regard to the filing of his SALN, and the disclosure of his real properties and peso and dollar deposits." |
 Sergio R. Osmeña III |
"There is more reason to apply the law when the assets in question amount to P180 million...Nowhere in that FCDU law not allow depositors from disclosing their deposits." |
 Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan |
"As a lawyer and an officer of the court, it pains and saddens me to say that clearly the Chief Justice displayed a disturbing pattern of dishonesty, willful concealment, and evasion and a blatant and wanton disregard of the provisions of the Constitution on the SALN...Respect for the rule of law will only be realized if punishment is swift in a fair trial." |
 Aquilino“Koko” Pimentel III |
GUILTY "There is evidence on record that shows respondent Corona didn't declare in his SALNs his properties. Arguments of respondent do not persuade this senator-judge." |
 Ralph G. Recto |
"The undeclared assets are so huge that it cannot be pressed aside as innocent exclusion" |
 Ramon Revilla, Jr. |
"Through his own direct admission, the Chief Justice failed to properly disclose all his assets in SALN" |
 Vicente C. Sotto III |
GUILTY " True judgment must come from the people"
|
 Antonio F. Trillanes IV |
"The claim of commingled funds and confidentiality of dollar deposits will never be accepted as alibis. From now on, no one's untouchable. " |
 Manny Villar |
"Nahirapan man ako sa aming desisyon, paniwala ko kailangan talaga ideklara and dollar accounts." |
