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Former presidents of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) on Tuesday asserted that pursuing the impeachment case against Chief Justice Renato Corona to the end would serve the country well.
In a manifesto signed by five former IBP national presidents, including current Solicitor General Anselmo Cadiz, the group expressed a "collective sense that the forthcoming impeachment trial... will be healthy for our democracy."
That puts the IBP's ex-presidents at loggerheads with the IBP's current leadership, which two weeks agodenounced Corona's impeachment by the House of Repfresentatives.
Their opposing views reflect the larger debate in the legal community over the conflict between the executive and the judicial, and whether it is beneficial for democracy and the nation's politics for the Chief Justice to be subjected to an impeachment trial.
The current leadership of the IBP, the official organization of the nation's lawyers, had called upon "the stakeholders and the pillars of the justice system to rally behind and defend the Supreme Court as an institution of democracy.”
On the other hand, the group of IBP ex-presidents said Corona, like any other public official, should not be treated as a "sacred cow" and should not be "immune from criticism, or impeachment."
Corona should be at the forefront of strengthening the Supreme Court, the group added, noting that such a duty is abandoned when "by official actions he shows marked subservience to the person who appointed him Chief Justice."
Appointed by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2010 in what many called a "midnight appointment," Corona is being accused of voting more than three-fourths of the time in favor of the former chief executive.
The former IBP presidents also backed President Benigno Aquino III's tirades against Corona.
On several occasions, Aquino criticized the Chief Justice for being a midnight appointee and that the Corona-led Supreme Court is "confused and confusing" in its rulings.
"The President, as leader and father of the nation, may and should speak in the strongest terms possible whenever the decisions of the Court or the official actuations of the Chief Justice no longer serve the best interest of the nation," the group said.
Apart from Cadiz, the other former IBP presidents who signed the manifesto were Raoul Angangco (1995-1997), Jose Aguila Grapilon (1997-1999), Arthur Lim (1999-2001), and Teofilo Pilando (2001-2003).
Corona is facing an impeachment trial by the Senate. His legal team, led by former Supreme Court Associate Justice Serafin Cuevas, is expected to go toe-to-toe with the 11-man prosecution panel of lawmakers from the House of Representatives.
The former IBP presidents did not see anything wrong when 188 lawmakers signed and transmitted the impeachment complaint to the Senate, which takes on the role of an impeachment court.
"[The House of Representatives] exercised its constitutional prerogative to initiate impeachment and placed the country on notice that the elected representatives of the people are holding the Chief Justice accountable for his actions," the group said.
The manifesto came a week after another former IBP president — Vicente Millora — filed a petitionasking the Supreme Court to intervene in the impeachment case against Corona and declare it as null and void. — VS/HS, GMA News."
In a manifesto signed by five former IBP national presidents, including current Solicitor General Anselmo Cadiz, the group expressed a "collective sense that the forthcoming impeachment trial... will be healthy for our democracy."
That puts the IBP's ex-presidents at loggerheads with the IBP's current leadership, which two weeks agodenounced Corona's impeachment by the House of Repfresentatives.
Their opposing views reflect the larger debate in the legal community over the conflict between the executive and the judicial, and whether it is beneficial for democracy and the nation's politics for the Chief Justice to be subjected to an impeachment trial.
The current leadership of the IBP, the official organization of the nation's lawyers, had called upon "the stakeholders and the pillars of the justice system to rally behind and defend the Supreme Court as an institution of democracy.”
On the other hand, the group of IBP ex-presidents said Corona, like any other public official, should not be treated as a "sacred cow" and should not be "immune from criticism, or impeachment."
Corona should be at the forefront of strengthening the Supreme Court, the group added, noting that such a duty is abandoned when "by official actions he shows marked subservience to the person who appointed him Chief Justice."
Appointed by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2010 in what many called a "midnight appointment," Corona is being accused of voting more than three-fourths of the time in favor of the former chief executive.
The former IBP presidents also backed President Benigno Aquino III's tirades against Corona.
On several occasions, Aquino criticized the Chief Justice for being a midnight appointee and that the Corona-led Supreme Court is "confused and confusing" in its rulings.
"The President, as leader and father of the nation, may and should speak in the strongest terms possible whenever the decisions of the Court or the official actuations of the Chief Justice no longer serve the best interest of the nation," the group said.
Apart from Cadiz, the other former IBP presidents who signed the manifesto were Raoul Angangco (1995-1997), Jose Aguila Grapilon (1997-1999), Arthur Lim (1999-2001), and Teofilo Pilando (2001-2003).
Corona is facing an impeachment trial by the Senate. His legal team, led by former Supreme Court Associate Justice Serafin Cuevas, is expected to go toe-to-toe with the 11-man prosecution panel of lawmakers from the House of Representatives.
The former IBP presidents did not see anything wrong when 188 lawmakers signed and transmitted the impeachment complaint to the Senate, which takes on the role of an impeachment court.
"[The House of Representatives] exercised its constitutional prerogative to initiate impeachment and placed the country on notice that the elected representatives of the people are holding the Chief Justice accountable for his actions," the group said.
The manifesto came a week after another former IBP president — Vicente Millora — filed a petitionasking the Supreme Court to intervene in the impeachment case against Corona and declare it as null and void. — VS/HS, GMA News."
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