Inquirer’s Jan. 9 editorial (“Amateurish prosecution”) made me ponder two things about the impeachment of Chief Justice Renato Corona.
First, that the impeachment of the Chief Justice, or impeachment per se as enshrined in the Constitution, is more political than legal, which is what former Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban said in his Jan. 8 column titled “More political than legal.” True enough, it is more political than legal from the beginning to end—from the filing of the complaint at the House of Representatives up to the trial in the Senate.
It is more political because in the Corona case, the prosecution, headed by Rep. Niel Tupas, has been already appealing the case to the public even before the actual trial has begun, which shows not the prosecutors’ legal maturity or expertise but their political faces in the guise of transparency and accountability. “So typical of politicians” to resort to trial by publicity.
Second, that the impeachment of the Chief Justice is more than the question of what is legal or constitutional, more than upholding accountability and transparency in public service, more than the charges alleged in the Articles of Impeachment submitted to the Senate. Common sense tells us that impeachment is more than all these, and there are gray areas that are difficult to understand for those who are still exploiting the “midnight appointment” issue and Corona’s votes on certain rulings, among other issues. Thus, weak partisan politics trumps principles.
That’s why, I fully agree with what Oscar Franklin Tan said in his commentary (Inquirer, 12/19/11), and I quote: “The absence of principle is damning, however, with a Chief Justice impeached. To engage the Court on a battleground other than its own reasoning debases its special independence from fickle politics. A president who argues principle with the Court is statesmanlike; a president who merely argues his losing record is a sore loser screaming at the referee after fouling out.”
With the Corona impeachment, whichever side we have taken, or views and opinions we have formed, we would do better to reflect on what the Davide impeachment told us: the Chief Justice is not above the law, but just because he is the Chief Justice does not imply that he gets to have less in law than anybody else.
—JOSELITO B. CAPARIÑO,
72 Luzon St.,
Luzviminda Village,
Batasan Hills, Quezon City