It is true that with age comes wisdom. Well, maybe most of the time, but not always. One unfortunate exception, I am afraid, is veteran journalist Amando Doronila, whose recent commentaries seem to have descended to the depths of unwisdom.
Doronila talks of an “impeachment juggernaut” or a “gang-up” which he says breached parliamentary procedures. What’s wrong with that? If the lawmakers were convinced that the charges against Chief Justice Renato Corona were serious, why wait a minute longer and prolong his agony?
It takes the Supreme Court ages to decide on the huge pile of cases in its dockets, but it took only a few days for it to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) on the watchlist order against the Arroyo couple, even without hearing the side of the Department of Justice. The justices can always say that was an example of swift justice, but it looks more like a case of railroading. Why isn’t Doronila raising a ruckus over this apparent railroading of the TRO?
I don’t believe that an attack on the Chief Justice is an attack on the Supreme Court as an institution. And neither is an attack by the executive branch on the judicial branch necessarily an attack on the independence of a co-equal branch of government.
The Supreme Court retains its power to overturn any executive fiat or any law passed by Congress. Remove Corona or whoever sits as chief justice and you still have the Supreme Court wielding its vast power to keep the Executive and the Legislative in check.
Those who say that we have a damaged democracy because of President Aquino’s public rebuke of Corona completely and thoroughly misunderstand what is right and wrong. Corona is a sworn enemy of justice and the rule of law as he makes decisions based on political patronage and favoritism.
Are we moving closer to tyrannical rule as Doronila’s piece warns? I don’t think so; I believe we are moving closer to the daang matuwid that our people want, except that Doronila, an unabashed supporter of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Corona, wants to take us down the crooked path.—LANCE GUEVARRA, handsome_lance@live.com.ph