Impeachment of the Chief Justice

CJ Corona’s Impeachment Trial – a widely known issue that grasped everyone's inquisitive mind that became one of the controversial and tough topic in the Supreme Court.

The Impeachment trial against the Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato C. Corona was set in motion by President Aquino after the Chief Justice and other Arroyo appointees had issued the temporary restraining order ( TRO ) to halt the travel ban against former President now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal – Arroyo.

According to Feliciano Belmonte, the President was dissapointed and felt bad regarding the TRO that was issued to Arroyo with the help of the Supreme Court.

After the incident, the President gathered forces in the Liberal Party and other parties. The House Leaders worked promptly to assemble a case against the Chief Justice.

The 57 – page fabricated document filed against Corona required a signature of almost one-third of the 285 house members; a necessitate to impeach the Chief Justice without even going through plenary debates.

The count had gained 188 according to Iloilo Representative Niel Tupas Jr. as the head and the 24 – member senate also formed itself as an impeachment court.

Through selecting diverse reliable resources online, listed below are the charges delivered by the House of Representative against CJ Corona. 

OFFENSES:

1. Betrayal of Public Trust ( BPT )

2. Culpable Violation of the Constitution ( CVC )

3. Graft and Corruption   ( GNC )

CHARGES AGAINST CORONA:

1. Issuance of flip-flopping decisions in final and executory cases, the appointment of his wife to a public office, and discussing pending cases in the SC with litigants (CVC, BPT)

2.Partiality and subservience in cases involving the Arroyo administration (BPT)

3. Failure to blurt out to the public his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (CVC, BPT)

4. Issuance of the “status quo ante” order against the House of Representatives in the case concerning the impeachment of Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez (CVC, BPT)

5. His vote in the decision in favor of gerrymandering in the cases involving 16 newly-created cities, and the promotion of Dinagat Island into a province (BPT)

6.Improper creation of the SC ethics committee (BPT)

7. Granting a temporary restraining order in favor of former President Arroyo (BPT)

8. Failure and refusal to account for the Judicial Development Fund and special allowance for the judiciary collections (BPT, CNC)

Witnesses testified last week before the senate to state the authenticity of Corona’s SALN and propoerties. Included in the witnesses who stand in front of the senate were Supreme Court Clerk of Court Enriqueta Esguerra-Vidal and Marianito Dimaandal, head of Malacanang Records Office, Randy Rutaquio (register of deeds of Taguig City), Carlo Alcantara (register of deeds of Quezon City), and Sedfrey Garcia (register of deeds of Marikina City.)

Now on the second week of trial, Bureau of Internal Revenue commissioner Kim Jacinto – Henares testified on Corona’s Income Tax Return ( ITR ) from 1992 to 2010.

The prosecution team presented evidences for Article of Impeachment II while the defense team is trying it’s superb action to impedes the prosecution from collecting materials and evidence.