Legal concerns
The issue that has caused concerns among legal circles is the independence of the judiciary from political authority.
Many in these circles have warned publicly that the independence of the court should not be compromised by the short-term policy goals of the administration and its concerns over possible obstruction by an unfriendly court.
The President has demonstrated that in pursuing his political objectives, he can send past officials to jail to account for past misdeeds.
In his relentless attacks, he has acted like a raging bull, goring any object on its path.
Corona is fully aware that the Supreme Court is the passive component in our constitutional system of checks and balances.
He knows he cannot fight the President fire with fire, and so knowing his limitations, all he could do is to deflect calmly the blows coming from someone on the rampage.
By hook or by crook
It appears that the purpose of the President’s onslaught is to get rid of Corona by hook or by crook so he can reorganize the high court with his own appointees and to have a tribunal more compliant to his narrow political objectives.
There are three ways to remove Corona: first shame and humiliate him to resign. It is unlikely Corona will step down without a fight.
The administration applied this pressure tactic to Arroyo’s Ombudsman, Merceditas Gutierrez, who resigned after she was impeached by the House and before she was tried by the Senate. The success of this browbeating appeared to have emboldened Mr. Aquino to try it on Corona.
But there are other Arroyo appointees in the court. What will the President do with them, or will he try to ease them out to have control of the court?
Impeachment
The second option of a constitutional removal is to impeach Corona. This procedure is messy and entails obstacles in Congress.
The President may get the House with the allies of his Liberal Party to impeach Corona, but the Senate, which tries impeachment cases, is a hard nut to crack. Its own independence from the executive will be at stake, should Corona be impeached.
The third option is to harness the streets to storm the high court and drag out Corona and other suspected pro-Arroyo justices with another “people power” show of force. This is what the hysterical lynch mob in the streets are clamoring for.
Can they mount a rage to remove Corona with another people power comparable to one that toppled the Marcos dictatorship? This method could provoke a real people power anarchy in the streets that could invite armed intervention to restore public order.
In mob rule, nobody is safe from lynching, not excluding the do-gooders in the lynch mob calling for summary justice to those targeted for removal or prosecution by this “daang matuwid” regime.
Maybe, it is prudent for the hotheads and vigilantes to think a little more about the consequences of a real revolution.
We can’t always use Edsa I as a model to bail us out of a constitutional crisis.
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