MANILA, Philippines – The impeachment of Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona may spur reforms in the judiciary, according to a veteran journalist who removed the veil of secrecy covering the high court.
Marites Dañguilan Vitug, author of "Shadow of Doubt: Probing the Supreme Court" and chairperson of the advisory board of Newsbreak, told ANC Primetime on Thursday that she doesn't believe that the impeachment is undermining the judiciary.
"I hope after this we'll choose to go with integrity, reform," said Vitug, a 1987 Nieman Fellowand former editor-in-chief of abs-cbnNEWS.com.
Vitug believes that President Benigno Aquino III is doing the right thing by implementing needed reforms in government.
"What Aquino is doing now is like course correction, he's steering our ship," she said.
"There will be shocks, there will be upheavals but I hope after this it stabilizes and hopefully go back to basics -- appointment process -- and really choose people with integrity and reforms," she added.
Transparency
Vitug, who was sued by Supreme Court Justice Presbitero Velasco Jr. because of her book, said Corona's impeachment may further shed light on how the high court works behind closed doors.
"We may get a glimpse of inner workings of the Supreme Court if Corona's impeachment trial will touch on judiciary's budget and how they spend it," she said.
She added that Supreme Court justices, like any government official, must be held accountable for their acts.
"They have to be accountable in terms of finances -- even if they're in pedestal and robes. It's a very demanding position," Vitug said. "When (Supreme Court justices) sit there, they should be there because of merit. They shouldn't owe anyone."
She said the judiciary has not always disclosed its spending.
Corona was impeached on 8 grounds, including his alleged failure to account for judicial funds and special allowances.
"Remember, budget was one of the critical issues when executive and judiciary had debates. Maybe we'll learn about the budget process in judiciary and how they spend it because they don't," she said.
Accountability
"They don't submit accountability reports to DBM [Department of Budget and Management]. It's only now under [DBM Secretary Butch] Abad that they submitted a few because of the push for transparency," she added.
Vitug said she did not expect the impeachment of Corona, who was receiving flak from the first day of his appointment as Chief Justice because he was a former aide of then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Vitug said the impeachment brings to fore various issues surrounding the Chief Justice.
She said that while Corona was just one among the Supreme Court justices, he is their leader and he sets the tone for the judiciary.
"During the time of Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban, he would consult members of court. He wanted a solid, unanimous vote," she explained.
She said the Chief Justice was appointed by Arroyo when the former leader was facing one of the toughest moments in her administration. "Remember, at that time, (Arroyo) was in survival mode," she said.
Vitug said Corona may have been forced to show his hand after he was singled out by Aquino and was impeached.
She said she did not expect Corona to go on offensive in his speech Wednesday. "Maybe it's because he had to take a stand."
Vitug said she will not attend if the Senate asks her to testify at Corona's trial. "Our stories speak for themselves. The documents are public."
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