'Bantay Gloria' group wants Corona to inhibit from Arroyo cases
MANILA, Philippines -- The Bantay Gloria Network group filed a petition before the Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday asking Chief Justice Renato Corona to inhibit himself from the cases involving former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
The petitioners are former Akbayan party-list Rep. Risa Hontiveros, Leah Navarro of the Black and White Movement, botched US$ 329-million NBN-ZTE deal whistleblower Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada, and Juan Tejano, student council president of the University of the Philippines College of Social Sciences and Philosophy.
In their eight-page motion for inhibition, the group argued that Corona should inhibit from the Arroyo cases since he was a former chief of staff of the former president.
The group said that prior to Corona’s midnight appointment as chief justice by the Arroyo government, Corona served under then Vice President Arroyo as chief of staff and then joined her in Malacanang when she assumed the presidency on January 20, 2001.
They said that Corona also served as Arroyo’s presidential chief of staff, presidential spokesperson, and later as acting Executive Secretary.
They added that Corona’s close relationship with Arroyo undermined the SC’s integrity in handling the cases filed against the former president.
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