The cleansing and purification of the Philippine Judiciary has started.
On May 29, 2012 the Philippine Senate Impeachment Court voted 20-3 for the conviction of midnight appointee Chief Justice Renato Corona, resulting in his removal from the post with perpetual disqualification to hold public office.
Corona has always been identified with ex Phil. Pres. Gloria Arroyo, his benefactor, who appointed him to office in June 2010 after the May 10, 2010 general elections in violation of the 2-month prohibition period provided in the 1987 Constitution.
The Arroyo Supreme Court ratified the much-hated midnight appointment as constitutional, in the process reversing a 50-year old jurisprudence on the matter.
Pres. Noynoy Aquino from the very start had refused to recognize Corona's appointment but for sometime he did not take concrete actions to oust him from office except for giving a few speeches attacking his predecessor for the midnight appointment and seeking reforms in the Judiciary.
Things came to a head when Corona used his influence in the Arroyo Court to allow ex Pres. Arroyo to leave the country despite the pendency of criminal proceedings against her before the Department of Justice involving election fraud and corruption.
This ultimately led to the impeachment of Corona by the Lower House in December 2011.
And the rest is history.
History will condemn the 3 senators who sided with Corona and Arroyo: the rage-filled, arrogant and agitated Miriam Defensor-Santiago, the human rights lawyer turned traditional politician Joker Arroyo, and the son of The Dictator, Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
We praise Senate Pres. Juan Ponce Enrile for a job well done in presiding over the impeachment court proceedings with wisdom, discipline and orderliness, notwithstanding a few instances during which time we felt he was too strict with the Prosecution and too lenient with the Defense.
Anyway, all is well that ends well.
Now the country can resume its trek to peace, unity, and progress.
- Atty. Manuel J. Laserna Jr.
