Impeachment Trial 2012

Activity No. 24 (Maria Victoria B. Reccion)

           Never has the position of Chief Justice, or the standing of the Supreme Court, as an institution, been so tainted with the perception of bias and partially, as it is now: not even in the dark days of martial law, has the chief magistrate behaved with such arrogance, impunity, and cynicism. And yet, for the authentic rule of law to prevail, the public must have absolute trust and confidence in the justice, probity, integrity, and impartiality, of the members of the Supreme Court. To have any justice, much more, a Chief Justice, who does not live up to the expectation of being like a Caesar’s wife – beyond reproach – is to fatally impede the ability of our institutions to function and dispense true justice to the people.

                                                            
Renato Corona, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines, was impeached on December 12, 2011. Corona was the third official, after President Joseph Estrada on 200 and Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez earlier on 2011, to be impeached by the House Representative.
Corona was perceived as an ally of former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who had appointed him as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, days after the 2010 presidential election. This comes after the Supreme Court ruled that the president’s ban on appointments does not extend to the judiciary. Since then, the Supreme Court has been accused of ruling unfavorably of the Aquino administration in cases concerning Arroyo.
I agree with the Prosecutors’ decision of impeaching Chief Justice Renato Corona. Why? It is just right because all he did involves Gloria Arroyo, whom we all know a corrupt person. If I am in the Prosecution right now, I will work really hard just to get him fired! That's what I feel about him.