GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/30 May) – Calling it a major step forward towards greater government transparency and accountability, local leaders here and nearby provinces of South Cotabato and Sarangani hailed the guilty verdict meted Tuesday by the Senate impeachment court on Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona.
South Cotabato (2nd District) Rep. Daisy Avance-Fuentes told a local radio station that she was satisfied with the impeachment court’s decision to hold Corona accountable for the acknowledged omission of his US$2.4-million deposits in his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth or SALN.
She said it affirmed that the Chief Justice’s insistence of the bank secrecy principle based on his interpretation of Republic Act (RA) 6426 or the Foreign Currency Deposit Act was flawed and improper.
“As Chief Justice, he should be the first to know that laws were not made or passed so we can justify anything that runs contrary to the standing policies and standards, as in the case of our SALN that requires the full disclosure of our assets,” said Fuentes, who is also deputy majority floor leader of the House of Representatives.
Voting 20-3, the Senate impeachment court formally removed Corona from his post on Tuesday following a five-month trial that concluded with the latter appearing as witness for his defense.
Majority of the judges ruled that Corona grossly violated the SALN law when he admitted in his testimony last week that he has four US dollar accounts containing a total of US$ 2.4 million and three “co-mingled” peso accounts with aggregate deposits of P80.7 million.
City Councilor Dominador Lagare III said the conviction of Corona is a positive development and augurs well with the national government’s continuing campaign against graft and corruption in its bureaucracy.
“Before this, most government officials and employees don’t mind much about the SALN and what (assets) they’re declaring. But now, it’s given more importance as it can be used as a tool to help weed out corruption in government,” he said.
Lagare said he considers the points taken by the 20 senator-judges in deciding to convict Corona as just and fair.
But he said two of the dissenters – Senators Joker Arroyo and Ferdinand Marcos Jr. – also posed valid considerations that merit some attention.
Lagare said he did not understand well Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago’s acquittal arguments.
Lawyer Arnel Zapatos, Sarangani legal officer, said the Senate impeachment court’s decision was an “eye opener” for both officials and ordinary government workers.
“I’m hoping that this decision will translate into action, specifically the legislation of the necessary reform measures,” he said.
Lawyer Ferdinand Hernandez, former Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority deputy administrator, believed Corona’s conviction has affirmed the high standards that the position of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court should maintain.
“Being the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, (Corona), in terms of morality and integrity, should be beyond reproach. He’s supposed to champion the rule of law,” he said.
Hernandez, who is presently based in Koronadal City, said that with the completion of the impeachment process, the country can now move on and attend to more pressing issues and concerns.
For his part, Judge Oscar Noel, executive judge of the Regional Trial Court Branch 35 here, said he was saddened with the conviction of Corona but stressed that he accepts the Senate impeachment court’s decision as it was done through the proper processes.
“We can’t help being discouraged about it, especially since the one involved is the head of our office and whom we believed had helped us and championed our cause. But it’s now over and it’s time for us to move on,” he said in a radio interview. (Allen V. Estabillo / MindaNews)