When I saw Chief Justice Renato Corona crying, I felt anguish. Here is a brilliant, respectable Filipino who worked hard to reach his dreams and achieve his goals, a man of integrity and honor now ruined. All because President Aquino cannot accept him for the reason that he used to work for former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, and because 188 distinguished congressmen opted to please a President who carries a heavy emotional baggage from his past, by railroading the filing of an impeachment complaint, which forced our respectable senators to join in the attempt to oust the Chief Justice.
As I watched this reality show, the impeachment trial, unfold before my eyes, I could not help but think of what the President’s father, Ninoy Aquino, once said: That Filipinos are worth dying for. What then are we doing to our Chief Justice? His impeachment trial has hardly taken off, but a trial by publicity has ruined and convicted him already. Even if in the future he will be acquitted, his honor and integrity will never be whole again.
I implore our people, our media, to please open their eyes and see what really triggered the impeachment of Chief Justice Corona. Do not allow the cracks that divide our three branches of government to widen, lest we wake up one day only to find out that the rule of law in our country has become a thing of the past.
—LOURDES AMOR PARAS, lourdesamor25@gmail.com