WebClick Tracer

COMMENTARY: Corona on trial: Coming in with a swagger, leaving in a wheelchair

GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/23 May) — By the time he made his mini-French leave, Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona was already a picture of a defeated man, far from the powerful figure many thought he was or he thought he was.

And on the 40th day of his impeachment trial, a day grieving Filipinos lift their period of bereavement, Corona may have just started his own political demise.

Corona stripped himself of all judicial decorum and courtesy right when he began to speak in defense of himself.  He insisted on reading an opening statement and proceeded to do a lengthy narrative of his own appreciation of things.  Despite being courteously reminded to already proceed with his testimony, Corona lashed out at his perceived political and personal enemies.

As promised, he was accorded all the respect and allowed to do his act despite continuing objection from the prosecution who was barred from interrupting to manifest their objection to hearsay and irrelevant testimonies of the Chief Justice.

Without the benefit of being interrupted by the prosecution, Corona was making a good account of himself by his monologue.  That is, until two hour or more of his good things and good time in court lasted.

Corona, ironically, resorted to the very tactics he is accusing his detractors of.   In resorting to name-calling, even washing dirty linen in public, desecrating the memory of the dead and using the language of the bully, he only exposed his true character – a man not worthy of his position.

He also displayed a manifest lack of intelligence required and expected from the highest magistrate of the land with the way he conducted himself after delivering his scathing monologue.  He took all 23 senator-judges, including politically-reborn Juan Ponce Enrile, for a ride and led them into believing that he was fully submitting himself to the jurisdiction of impeachment court only to arrogantly walk away with a smug on his face.

In a singular act of shamelessness and cowardice, he tried to leave the Senate building.

But Enrile wanted nothing of his stage act.

What a pathetic sight it was when Corona was finally brought back to the Senate impeachment court.  Contrived or not, his being led into a wheelchair instantly reminded everybody of his principal benefactor who was also denied exit (escape, too?) at the Manila International Airport.

It seems flight was always the option for those who enjoyed power, too much of it, during the previous government.

It now matters no more whether Corona is guilty or not of all the charges hurled against him by the House of Representatives.

By his own doing yesterday, he proved he really did not deserve one day as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines.

Corona came into the Senate session hall waving his hands to the public and his few supporters. When he arrived, he was full of swagger.  He left limping, though, in a wheelchair. (Edwin G. Espejo writes for www.asiancorrespondent.com)

Your perspective matters! Leave a comment below and let us know what you think. We welcome diverse viewpoints and encourage respectful discussions. Don't hesitate to share your ideas or engage with others.

Search MindaNews

Share this MindaNews story
[custom_social_share]
Send us Feedback