Lacierda: Corona statement vs Aquino 'dripping with malice'
Malacañang on Monday said impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona has no one to blame but himself on the trial he is now facing, and described the chief justice’s statement against President Benigno Aquino III as “dripping with malice.”
“The Chief Justice has no one to blame but himself, if the uncovering of his misdeeds in turn triggers investigations into his financial dealings and mis-declaration of taxes and properties: all of which goes against his own sworn duty to uphold the law, and provide an unimpeachable example to the judiciary,” presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said in a press statement issued Monday.
“A statement dripping with malice, proclaiming innocence when the evidence has already begun to pile up, is a poor defense: the facts contradict his protestations,” he added.
Corona, in a press statement, accused Aquino of violating the 1987 Constitution with the alleged attempt to bribe senator-judges in order to defy the Supreme Court ruling preventing the examination of Corona's dollar accounts.
Rehashed accusation
Malacañang has denied the accusation, with Lacierda describing it as a rehash of the one made by “loyalists” of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who appointed Corona to the Supreme Court in 2002 and as chief justice in 2010.
“He repeatedly echoes the personal attacks against the President made by Arroyo loyalists. Nowhere does he display fidelity to the truth,” Lacierda said.
“His statement today leaves no doubt that the Senate is facing a continuing commission of contempt by the defense and their principal, the Chief Justice, himself: no court of law would tolerate the slanderous statements of the Chief Justice,” he added.
He further said it goes beyond irony that Corona is waging a political campaign while pretending to despise politics. “He brought politics into the Court; now that the political process enshrined in our Constitution has called him to account, he sheds crocodile tears while attempting to subvert the impeachment court.”
“March of folly”
He said Corona’s acceptance of appointment as chief justice started his “march of folly.” He further said Corona continues to refuse to understand that the impeachment trial is about his fitness to hold the highest post in the Judiciary.
“He pleads political persecution. He claims the law is on his side. The truth is, he has cast his position in such deep shame, and caused public scandal so damaging to justice and good governance, that he has become the first Chief Justice to be impeached,” Lacierda said.
Lacierda cited a decision of the SC in the 1997 on the case of Narita Rabe v. Delsa M. Flores, where the high court dismissed a court interpreter from Panabo, Davao for failing to disclose her financial interest in a public market stall in her Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth.
He quoted the court as saying: “We have repeatedly held that although every office in the government service is a public trust, no position exacts a greater demand for moral righteousness and uprightness from an individual than in the Judiciary.”
“The standard expected of a Chief Justice was therefore determined not by the House, or the Senate, or anyone else, but the Supreme Court itself. In the aforementioned case it imposed penalties: and yet the Chief Justice, clearly caught lying in his SALN, expects to be let off scot-free,” Lacierda said. - KBK, GMA News
“The Chief Justice has no one to blame but himself, if the uncovering of his misdeeds in turn triggers investigations into his financial dealings and mis-declaration of taxes and properties: all of which goes against his own sworn duty to uphold the law, and provide an unimpeachable example to the judiciary,” presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said in a press statement issued Monday.
“A statement dripping with malice, proclaiming innocence when the evidence has already begun to pile up, is a poor defense: the facts contradict his protestations,” he added.
Corona, in a press statement, accused Aquino of violating the 1987 Constitution with the alleged attempt to bribe senator-judges in order to defy the Supreme Court ruling preventing the examination of Corona's dollar accounts.
Rehashed accusation
Malacañang has denied the accusation, with Lacierda describing it as a rehash of the one made by “loyalists” of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who appointed Corona to the Supreme Court in 2002 and as chief justice in 2010.
“He repeatedly echoes the personal attacks against the President made by Arroyo loyalists. Nowhere does he display fidelity to the truth,” Lacierda said.
“His statement today leaves no doubt that the Senate is facing a continuing commission of contempt by the defense and their principal, the Chief Justice, himself: no court of law would tolerate the slanderous statements of the Chief Justice,” he added.
He further said it goes beyond irony that Corona is waging a political campaign while pretending to despise politics. “He brought politics into the Court; now that the political process enshrined in our Constitution has called him to account, he sheds crocodile tears while attempting to subvert the impeachment court.”
“March of folly”
He said Corona’s acceptance of appointment as chief justice started his “march of folly.” He further said Corona continues to refuse to understand that the impeachment trial is about his fitness to hold the highest post in the Judiciary.
“He pleads political persecution. He claims the law is on his side. The truth is, he has cast his position in such deep shame, and caused public scandal so damaging to justice and good governance, that he has become the first Chief Justice to be impeached,” Lacierda said.
Lacierda cited a decision of the SC in the 1997 on the case of Narita Rabe v. Delsa M. Flores, where the high court dismissed a court interpreter from Panabo, Davao for failing to disclose her financial interest in a public market stall in her Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth.
He quoted the court as saying: “We have repeatedly held that although every office in the government service is a public trust, no position exacts a greater demand for moral righteousness and uprightness from an individual than in the Judiciary.”
“The standard expected of a Chief Justice was therefore determined not by the House, or the Senate, or anyone else, but the Supreme Court itself. In the aforementioned case it imposed penalties: and yet the Chief Justice, clearly caught lying in his SALN, expects to be let off scot-free,” Lacierda said. - KBK, GMA News
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