Corona’s punishment is immediate ouster, says Senate President Enrile

Removal from office is the only punishment for convicted Chief Justice Renato Corona, whom the Senate impeachment court found guilty of betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution in a historic decision on Tuesday.   That was how Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile declared the consequence of Corona’s conviction by a 20-3 vote of the 23-member Senate. Corona is the first Chief Justice to be removed from office through the impeachment process in the Philippines. His ouster came after a nearly two-year feud with President Benigno Aquino III over the magistrate's alleged "midnight appointment" and undue influence on Supreme Court decisions that supposedly favored ex-president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who placed him in the highest position in the judiciary.   After a five-month trial, the Senate sitting as the impeachment court found Corona guilty of Article II of the impeachment complaint or non-disclosure of his entire wealth in his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN).   According to the Philippine 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.”   Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, however, asked whether the penalty can be lessened since the law only says the punishment for conviction "shall not extend further than" removal from office.   "Thus, the Senate can impose a lesser penalty like censure, reprimand, fine, suspension form office or the like. In case of conviction how should the penalty be determined?" she said at the end of the closing arguments on Monday.   Speaking to reporters after Tuesday's trial, however, Enrile remained firm that Corona’s penalty is removal from office and that the court's decision is immediately executory.   “Acquittal or conviction, walang reprimand, walang admonition.  It is either removal or not removal,” he also said in a previous interview.   In a separate interview, Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. also said most of the senator-judges had already agreed on the penalty for Corona.   "Hindi na kuwestiyon ‘yung penalty, malinaw sa aming lahat na removal," he said.   The Senate secretary, as clerk of the impeachment court, was directed to provide Corona, his counsel, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Supreme Court, the Judicial and Bar Council, and the President of the Philippines a certified copy of the judgment.   Corona’s peso, dollar deposits   During Tuesday's trial, the senators cited Corona's dollar and peso deposits as the reason they found him guilty–for not declaring the money in his SALNs.   Corona tried to justify that he did not declare his dollar accounts and the extent of his peso-denominated cash in banks, saying these were covered by Republic Act 6426 or the Foreign Currency Deposit Act and his peso accounts were commingled with the money of his mother and his children.   Enrile, however, said Corona's reliance on the absolute confidentiality accorded to RA 6426 was "grossly misplaced."   "Consistent with the position taken by this court in the case filed by the Philippine Savings Bank before the Supreme Court last February, pursuant to which the Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order, I maintain that the constitutional principle of public accountability overrides the absolute confidentiality of foreign currency deposits," he said.   The provisions of RA 6426 cannot be interpreted as an exception to the unequivocal command and tenor of Article XI, Sec. 17, of the 1987 Constitution, and he regretted that the Highest Magistrate of the land would think otherwise, according to the Senate President.   “A public officer or employee shall, upon assumption of office and as often as may be required by law, submit a declaration under oath of his assets, liabilities and net worth,” according to Section 17 or Article XI.   Enrile said there is nothing in RA 6426 that prohibits a depositor from declaring his or her foreign currency funds.   "I believe that the framers of the Foreign Currency Deposit Act did not intend to create the opportunity for public officials to conceal their assets or stash away foreign currencies under this law," added Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada.   But the feisty Santiago, after casting her vote, noted that the omission of his peso and dollar deposits in Corona’s SALN was not an impeachable offense. "An omission in good faith in the SALN carries a light penalty, and is even allowed to be corrected," she said. The case of Delsa Flores   Other senators, however, cited the case of court interpreter Delsa Flores, who was removed from government service for failing to declare in her SALN a market stall she owned.   "Tama ba na ang pagsisinungaling ng maliliit ay parusahan habang ang pagsisinungaling ng makapangyarihan ang tungkulin ay i-abswelto?" noted Sen. Francis Pangilinan.   "Bakit sa mahirap pag nahuli, ang sasabihin sa kanya sa presinto ka na magpaliwanag? Bakit po kapag mayaman lahat ng lusot, batas, at technicalities available sa kanya?" Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano argued. —DVM/VS, GMA News