How the senator-judges voted in the Corona trial and why

In the end, most of the senator-judges who voted for the conviction of Chief Justice Renato Corona became convinced of his guilt after he admitted having several undeclared dollar and peso accounts worth almost P200 million. Below are excerpts from the explanations of the senators for their votes.

Edgardo Angara The Chief Justice himself openly admitted before this Court that he has four U.S. dollar accounts totaling U.S. $2.4 million, and three peso accounts of P80.7 million. I may grant the Chief Justice’s plea of honest mistake of judgment. But given his broad experience in public law and practice in investment advisory services, his willful and deliberate omission amounts to a culpable violation. Alan Peter Cayetano   Ito po ang tanong ko: Paano po kapag may kaso ang 1.3M civil servants, ilan man sa kanila, isa, dalawa,o marami sa Korte Suprema? Paano kung halatang halatang tinago lang ang pera pero dollar account ang ginamit? Will the Chief Justice have the moral ascendancy now to convict that public official? Hindi pwede. Dahil sa sarili niyang depensa, ginamit na niya ang interpretasyong ito. Pia Cayetano In our interpretation of the law, we who hold a position of public trust must choose the interpretation that will uphold pubic interest over private interest. Regardless of whether malice or an intent to suppress the truth was present, we must remember that Public office is a public trust. Once that trust is gone, we must step down to preserve the integrity of the position we hold. Franklin Drilon Chief Justice Corona knowingly, deliberately, and with malice aforethought, filed inaccurate and false SALNs to conceal his enormous wealth. Where our Constitution and our laws require disclosure, he chose the path of concealment. He has lost his moral fitness to serve the people. He has betrayed the public trust. Francis Escudero Matapos aminin ni Chief Justice Corona na mayroon siyang $2.4M at P80M na hindi niya dineklara sa kanyang SALN, naging simple na lamang po ang kailangan naming pagpasyahan. Ito po ay: hindi nga ba ito kelangan ideklara dahil sa R.A. 6426 o FCDU law? Ikinalulungkot ko na di ko po masasang-ayunan ang posisyong ito ni Chief Justice Corona Jinggoy Estrada It was argued by the defense panel that the non-inclusion of dollar deposits by the Chief Justice in his SALN was made in good faith and is covered by the provision of absolute confidentiality under the Foreign Currency Deposits Act. I regret to say that I am not convinced, because the Chief Justice is a learned man of law. Teofisto Guingona III How could one man use the very same constitution which mandates full public disclosure to justify the concealment of millions of dollars in his personal bank accounts? This is Constitutional perversion in its ultimate form. Gregorio Honasan II