Corona's post-conviction life: Piano player, wedding ninong, gym buff

By Mark Merueñas, GMA News

Published May 28, 2013 5:08pm

Exactly how does a country's ousted top judge – who came tumbling down after an impeachment trial that riveted the nation – get back on his feet and move on with his life?

On the first anniversary of his historic conviction, former Chief Justice Renato Corona tells GMA News Online that he and his family have finally recovered. In addition to his tax and bank records, the Corona family's dirty laundry was aired by the Senate impeachment court, including his wife Cristina's quarrels with her family members.

"The family is fine. We have moved on with our lives, convinced that 'tough times don't last but tough people do,'" said Corona via text message, a year after the Senate impeachment court found him guilty of hiding some P200 million while in public office – a claim he repeatedly denied.

"[But] we trust God's assurance that there will be better days ahead. We will survive these adversities because we will not allow anyone to break our bond and spirit as a family," Corona said.

Corona is barred from public office, a consequence of his conviction, but he can still practice law.

According to the Constitution, “judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than removal from office and disqualification to hold any office under the Republic of the Philippines.”

"I have been busy with many things the past year – keeping abreast of the latest Supreme Court decisions and new laws – since a lot of people consult me and seek my advice," Corona said.

He gets invited often to small gatherings, as well as lunch and dinner discussion groups, where he shares his views and experiences.

He also speaks before civic organizations and is still invited as a sponsor at weddings. "That happens to be quite often," Corona says proudly.

He also spends a considerable amount of time answering text messages and letters of support from relatives, friends, and supporters from all corners of the globe.

If he still has spare time, the former chief justice goes to the gym "whenever I can squeeze it in."

"I also try my hand at playing the piano again," he adds.

And the list of what this busy man has been up to lately goes on and on.

"My wife sometimes quips that it seems I am as busy as ever. She thought that retirement would slow me down. But it looks like being idle and taking things easy are not yet in sight for me," says the 64-year-old Corona.

"Government service is not in my plans anymore but public service is still very much a part of my life. There are many things I can and would still like to do for the betterment of our country and our people," he said.

To this day, Corona reiterates the money in the bank accounts exposed by his impeachment accusers was all hard-earned from his 45 years of professional life.

Prior to going into government service, Corona worked at private institutions like the Development Bank of the Philippines, the Commercial Bank of Manila and the Sycip Gorres and Velayo (SGV & Co).

During the Ramos administration in 1992, Corona became deputy executive secretary then chief presidential legal counsel, along with other concurrent posts.

During the Estrada administration, he was chief of staff and spokesman of then-Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who took along her loyal aide when she was elevated to the presidency after the Estrada ouster in 2001. It was Mrs. Arroyo who would appoint him to the Supreme Court, and later as chief justice.

Tax evasion case

After conviction, Corona's troubles continued. The Bureau of Internal Revenue slapped him with a P120-million tax evasion case in August 2012, just three months after being unseated.

The DOJ, after finding probable cause, would elevate the case to the Court of Tax Appeals.

But Corona insists the tax case was still part of a smear campaign against him, devised by "propagandists, spin doctors and media operators of this regime" who he said were out to persecute him.

He once again drew a connection between his impeachment and the controversial Supreme Court ruling ordering the total land distribution of Hacienda Luisita, which President Benigno Aquino III's clan owned.

"I pray a lot for the poor farmers of Hacienda Luisita that they will someday finally attain the justice the Corona Court gave them but which this regime is trying hard to thwart," he said.

"They [his detractors] continue to try to condition the minds of the public by constantly repeating their lies... They want to make it appear that they have destroyed me but from my personal experience the past year, that is in fact the opposite of reality. The situation on the ground tells a completely different story," said Corona.

He claims there are people he encounters in public who have expressed their "disgust" over how the Aquino administration treated him and his family.

He says the accusations hurled against him were the very same ones that the current administration is "guilty of doing, and to a much much more unconscionable extent."

"People have repeatedly used the word 'overkill' in describing what is being done to us by this administration," Corona said.

For his impeachment trial, 11 lawmakers from the House of Representatives served as prosecutors to prove he was guilty of not just one or two, but eight different charges, contained in Articles of Impeachment. (The prosecution would later drop five of them, saying they had already presented strong evidence on the remaining three.)

Despite his conviction, the former chief justice is unrepentant: "Wala akong kinasangkutang katiwalian o iskandalo kailan man sa buong buhay ko. Wala akong kinulimbat sa kaban ng bayan."

"Wala akong ikinahihiya at pinagsisisihan na kahit anumang aspeto ng buhay ko. At higit sa lahat, wala akong utang na kahit na isang kusing na buwis sa gobyerno," Corona ends. – HS/RSJ, GMA News

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