Will the Supreme Court own up to its mistake?

This has reference to “The irony in SC ruling on Corona’s retirement benefits” (Letters, 4/13/21) and “SC vindicates Corona, grants full retirement benefits” (News, 2/9/21). In “vindicating” the late chief justice Renato Corona, the Supreme Court said: “For the future’s worth, it is herein stressed that the SALN (statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth) is a tool for public transparency, never a weapon for political vendetta,” obviously referring to former president Noynoy Aquino’s utter dislike toward Corona.

Apparently blaming the evil of politics as the main reason for Corona’s fall, the Supreme Court decided to sock it to Congress for ruining the former chief justice’s reputation, rehabilitate him with full recognition of his worth, and reward him posthumously with a “humongous financial package” to add to his already considerable assets conservatively estimated at P220 million in hidden bank accounts — for which dishonesty bordering on corruption, ironically, he was kicked out of the Supreme Court.

So, as clear as daylight, the Supreme Court has admitted it was wrong for the supermajority of its members then to play along blindly with Solicitor General Jose Calida who “weaponized” the SALN to remove by quo warranto chief justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, who was evidently a victim of President’s Duterte’s vendetta. Now, hoist with its own petard, will the Court own up to another mistake and likewise “vindicate” or “rehabilitate” Sereno? Or will it play politics, too, and wait after Mr. Duterte is gone?

CARMELA N. NOBLEJAS
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