SC pays tribute to Corona

MANILA, Philippines - The Supreme Court (SC) yesterday paid tribute to former chief justice Renato Corona, who died last week of cardiac arrest, honoring his fight for judicial independence.

Hundreds of court employees filled the SC quadrangle to pay their last respects to the 23rd chief justice who fought vigorously for judicial independence and was later removed from office after being impeached by Congress.

They wore white clothes and black armbands, reminiscent of the silent protests held during Corona’s impeachment.

Associate Justice Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, who is acting chief justice while the three most senior justices are on leave, and other magistrates led the necrological rites for Corona held at the high court’s session hall.

“We prayed with him (during impeachment),” De Castro recalled.

Associate Justices Bienvenido Reyes and Arturo Brion also shared their memories of their former chief.

“He will be remembered as a chief justice who went out of his way to ease the burden (of court employees),” Reyes said.

The justice also recalled that Corona never raised his voice – not even during a most heated discussion – and that he “never lost common decency and civility.”

Brion, for his part, said Corona told him he was not the one that the executive wanted to bring down but rather, the independence of the judiciary.

He recalled the former head saying, “Art, it is the judiciary that they want to tame and bring to its knees, not Renato Corona. Independence, too, is not solely mine to give away.”

“In the end he paid dearly for his cherished values. He suffered with utmost dignity,” Brion said.

Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno was on sick leave yesterday, but had visited the wake of Corona at Heritage Park earlier this week.

Corona’s wife Cristina thanked her husband’s former colleagues, calling them their “extended family.”

She recalled how the former chief justice fought the executive to defend the judiciary as she appealed to the members of the judiciary not to surrender the fight. She called Corona’s impeachment as a “war against judicial independence.”

“The war is not over yet… Never let the same injustices happen again… Continue to fight for democracy, continue to fight for the judiciary, continue to fight for judicial independence,” she said in an emotional speech.

Corona’s daughter Cherie said their father has already forgiven those behind his ouster.

“As Daddy always said, ‘Forgive, forgive; we have to forgive. Vengeance is not ours, it is God’s, so we just move on and be at peace,” Cherie said.

It was under Corona’s watch when the high tribunal in November 2011 ordered the distribution of the 4,915.75-hectare Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac to over 6,000 farmer workers-beneficiaries of the sugar estate owned by President Aquino’s family.

In his separate opinion on that case, Corona also pushed for a lower compensation for the hacienda owners based on the fair market value of the land in November 1989.

A month later, Aquino’s allies in the House of Representatives voted to impeach Corona over charges of hidden assets and partiality to Arroyo.