The impeachment process against Chief Justice Renato Corona should not be hard to conclude. The documents and testimonies so far presented make the person of Corona highly questionable. This is enough reason to strip him of the title of chief justice, the highest authority in the administration of justice.
However, even if Corona is impeached, there is still more work to be done in order to institute “fairness” in our justice system.
Take the case of the expansion plan of SM Baguio, which included the cutting and balling of 182 pine trees. The people of Baguio City are outraged, but SM boasts of a permit issued by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources signed by no less than Environment Secretary Ramon Paje himself. Following the “rule of law,” the project is “legal.”
SM claims that, anyway, the permit requires them to plant 30 trees for every tree that is cut, a condition they will abide by accordingly. A similar requirement must have accompanied thousands of rural “development” projects—mining and logging concessions, export-crop plantations, land conversion projects, etc. But the frequency of disasters, such as floods and landslides, that have wrecked havoc on our people’s lives and livelihood prove that our forests are gone and we are now defenseless against devastating natural phenomena.
Simply, the point here is: It is easy to see that the country needs more trees than malls. In general, justice means the democratic distribution of wealth and rights; if the interests of the people (or of humanity) are primary considerations, it should not be hard to render decisions and to undertake the appropriate remedial measures swiftly.
—JULIE L. PO,
Linangan ng Kulturang Pilipino,
jlp704@yahoo.com