It was a dramatic turn of events spread out over 44 grueling episodes. Tears were shed; names were dragged through the dirt; pronouncements both powerful and ludicrous were made. In the grand finale, the fate of one man, who some called unprincipled and others called misunderstood, was decided.
In a controversial trial, marked by a blundering prosecution that won primarily on a misstep of the defense, former Chief Justice Renato Corona was removed from office for failing to declare over P80 million and $2.4 million in his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN).
It is the first high-profile impeachment trial in Philippine history to be decisively concluded. Reasons dished out to convict Corona, however sound or questionable, can be used for future cases by dint of the overwhelming result. This trial is now a precedent for all future lawsuits in Philippine courts. Repercussions of the moves made during the trial are imminent, their implications on the justice system apparent.
Some senator-judges who slapped guilt on Corona cited the case of Delsa Flores, a former court interpreter from Davao, who was dismissed from government service for failing to include in her SALN a stall she owned in a public market.
By intuition and with proper research, perhaps Corona and his defense team should have known that not declaring anything worth more than a stall in the SALN logically leads to the same fate as Flores’. Having said that, there really should no longer be any question as to why Corona’s failure to include his dollar accounts in his SALN is necessarily subject to the same punishment meted out on the court interpreter.
In the end, the senator-judges who abetted Corona’s conviction made a more prudent decision partly because they sent the right message as to the need for probity among public servants. Senator Loren Legarda put it best when she said that public trust is earned by transparency and “voluntary gestures of honesty.” That includes declaring monetary assets in foreign currency, even when one has to do it “voluntarily” given the presence of technicalities legally providing allowances for dishonest behavior.
The Corona impeachment has opened for the government an opportunity to move towards the fairer application of the law and the swifter carriage of justice. Our leaders, however, need to have a more sincere openness to the greater opportunity for truth that this whole trial really is. This whole exercise should not be seen in hindsight as a one-time political project, or worse, as that space for premature electioneering far too many inadequately exploited.
If our leaders are to impeach officials who fail to disclose their assets, then they must take their own steps toward further promoting and institutionalizing honesty in public service. Their efforts in this regard will only be satisfactory when they are able to establish that their integrity and probity is as incontrovertible and irrefutable as what they now demand from the office of the chief justice.
Otherwise, the whole trial will have been in vain in the long run, consigned to only a marginal footnote in the annals of Philippine history. This one opportunity for truth will be remembered as just that—a chance for greater change that the nation didn’t take.
