How credible was Chief Justice Corona’s May 22 testimony?

How can we believe Chief Justice Renato Corona?

The day before his much-anticipated testimony, he proclaimed “I have nothing to fear” and his lawyers went around various media forums bragging that their client will answer all the allegations.

On May 22, Corona entered the Senate hall with his typical swagger and gave a three-hour-long statement that, instead of answering the allegations in a clear, coherent way, rehashed his previous public speeches claiming persecution at the hands of President Aquino whom he accused of masterminding his impeachment. He ended his presentation with a typical imperial declaration: “Now the Chief Justice of the Republic of the Philippines wishes to be excused.” Then he promptly walked out, apparently to his waiting (with engine running) van at the parking lot. Were it not for the alert Senate sergeant at arms, he would have made a clean getaway, like his patroness Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. After being stopped, he feigned that he was fainting and had to be brought back in a wheelchair (again, like his idol Gloria) because of the stern warning from Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile.

As an educated diabetic, why would Corona intentionally miss lunch given his supposedly confident mental state? If the idea was to provoke a natural hypoglycemic attack to evoke public sympathy and avoid being cross-examined by the prosecution and senator-judges, nobody but his rabid supporters bought it. To me, it only served to confirm what the public knew all along: This guy does not deserve to hold the post he has been clinging to like a leech since getting an unconstitutional and immoral midnight appointment from his patroness.

—ED DAMES,

San Lorenzo Village, Makati City