ANSWER [TO VERIFIED COMPLAINT FOR IMPEACHMENT, 12 DECEMBER 2011] Chief Justice Renato C. Corona, through his undersigned counsel, most respectfully states:
PREFATORY STATEMENT
The sin of Pontius Pilate is not that he exercised his powers, but that he abandoned his judgment, washed his hands and let the angry mob have its way.
1. Impeachment, for Chief Justice Renato C. Corona (“CJ Corona”), came like a thief in the night. Even as he stands before this Tribunal to defend himself, his greatest fear is the danger that lady justice herself must face.
2. In blitzkrieg fashion, 188 Members of the House of Representatives signed the Articles of Impeachment, causing the immediate transmission of the complaint to the Senate. Almost instantly, some Members the of House resigned from the majority coalition, amidst complaints of undue haste in the filing of the Articles of Impeachment. It appears that Members were expected to sign on being offered tangible rewards, even if denied the opportunity to read the Articles of Impeachment and examine the evidence against CJ Corona.
3. The nation remains in a state of bewilderment, stunned to see that the members of the House of Representatives were able to come together on such short notice, to decisively act on a matter that they had no knowledge of the week before! To this day, the public’s proverbial mind is muddled with questions about the fate of the so-called priority bills long covered with mildew and buried in cobwebs. While the swift impeachment action of the House of Representative is nothing short of miraculous, it also has the distinction of being the single most destructive legislative act heretofore seen.
4. A fair assessment of the prevailing political climate will support the contention that the filing of the Articles of Impeachment was the handiwork of the Liberal Party alone. Surely, one cannot ignore the inexplicable readiness of the Members of the House to instantly agree to sign the Articles of Impeachment. Without much effort, one reaches the inevitable conclusion that President Benigno C. Aquino III as, the head of the Liberal Party, must have been “in” on the plan from inception. In contrast, it is unlikely that President Aquino knew nothing of the plans to impeach the Chief Justice.
5. There is little doubt about the desirability of having a friendly, even compliant, Supreme Court as an ally. Any president, Mr. Aquino included, hopes for a Supreme Court that consistently rules in his favor. Ensuring political advantage would amply justify the allegation that President Aquino seeks to subjugate the Supreme Court. More importantly, however, many circumstances and events dating back to the election of President Aquino support the conclusion that it was he who desired to appoint the Chief Justice and who instigated and ordered the filing of impeachment charges to remove Chief Justice Corona.
No comments:
Post a Comment