I was buying pan de sal this morning at our village bakery when someone remarked, “ang bagal ng trial” (the trial is so slow). I smiled and asked her, “do you watch it everyday”? She said, it is eating a lot of her afternoons but she is curious how it would end. Then she volunteered her own two cents, “if he is not guilty, why not allow the Prosecution to present those evidences they have gathered, if he is not guilty and he is not hiding anything, then by all means show the people that he is not corrupt, that his conscience is clean”.
For the man on the street, that’s how simple it would be, but the only way to evict a Supreme Court justice is to have him impeached, right? And there is a process, rules of law that should be followed. “If I were him”, she said further, “I’ll save my face and just resign”. My own sentiments, exactly. They’ve been at it for the last seven days but every day, time is wasted on rhetorics. There is a continuing objection on Chief Justice Corona’s lawyers on the presentation of evidence that is meant to prove that there is an ill-gotten wealth.
BIR Commissioner Kim Henares was able to testify on the Income Tax Returns submitted by the Coronas to the BIR, that one of his kids just earned a very minimal sum last 2009 and yet was able to buy a property worth 18M. For the common tao or observers like me, I would ask, “where did it all come from?” I was reading Randy David’s byline on the Philippine Inquirer and I quote;
“When a high government official like the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court files his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth, as required by law, is he not expected, like all government employees, to be truthful in his declaration? Does the mere act of filing satisfy the law? Is it irrelevant to inquire into the veracity of the statement?
It is absurd to think that the House prosecutors were charging Corona with simple failure to file his SALN.. No matter how poorly phrased the formal charges may be, it is obvious to anyone who cares to see that Corona is being charged not so much with failure to file is SALN, but with concealing the true extent and value of his assets.“
Well said, Sir and this has been what they were arguing about the past three days, delaying the trial and wasting people’s money. And if the Impeachment Court expects the audience watching the trial to behave, at least those judges who think that they are above everyone else should also observe tact and proper behaviour and not just flaunt to everyone that one is smarter and intelligent than the rest.
In the eyes of every Filipino, he has been judged, is he still fit to stay in the highest court of the land?
Dreams And Escapes 