P-Noy to CJ: When is due time? You're overdue

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino yesterday reminded impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona that he is not above the law and neither can he toy around with the country’s laws just because he heads the judiciary.

“You can answer the question: Is the Chief Justice exempted from the law that we are obliged to follow?” Aquino asked students in yesterday’s forum “Pulong Bayan ng Pangulo” at La Consolacion College in Manila.

Aquino drew a comparison with Davao court interpreter Delsa Flores, who was dismissed by the Supreme Court in 1997 because she failed to declare in her statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) her stall in a public market – as against Corona’s alleged concealed millions in cash and properties.

“For a simple court interpreter, that is the law, but why is it different in the case of the chief justice? If Delsa Flores was dismissed because of that, then what should we do in the case of Corona?” Aquino remarked in Filipino.

Aquino also took potshots at the “due time” that Corona promised to disclose all of his bank accounts, as members of his defense team have consistently blocked efforts to make public all of the chief magistrate’s finances.

“When is the ‘due time’? I think that is already overdue,” Aquino said.

“When should a locked filing cabinet be made public? How can you reveal the contents of the SALN if this is tucked inside a vault? While the truth is slowly coming out, it becomes clear that Corona is hiding his SALN,” he said.

Aquino also reminded the forum not to be swayed by legal technicalities used by Corona’s defense team in the Senate impeachment trial.

Aquino noted that it has been proven Corona had P31.5 million in banks, compared to the P3.5 million that he declared in his SALN.

“The SALN is not a scratch paper,” Aquino asserted, pointing out that officials of Philippine Savings Bank and Bank of the Philippine Islands have already testified that he had a sum total of P31.5 million in 2010.

“It is clear as daylight,” Aquino said. “Mr. Corona, you are under oath when you declared your SALN and this does not reflect your true assets. P3.5 million does not equal P31.5 million. So what’s the truth, Mr. Corona?” he asked.

Veering away from the issue

Aquino also raised the possibility that the Senate impeachment court trying Corona may be veering away from the real issue – which is the filing of untruthful SALN – since the Jan. 16 trial convened.

“I chose to keep silent for the moment about this issue because I still have faith in the (impeachment) process, but then what is happening now? So many gave their opinions muddling the issue and confusing the public so as to lose their interest in this case,” he said.

Aquino called on the public to stand vigilant.

“Do we leave this to a few people to decide this issue for us?”

During the forum, Aquino also accused Corona of being the coddler of his predecessor Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who violated the 1987 Constitution by appointing him in May 2010 despite a two-month ban for an outgoing head of state to make midnight appointments.

Aquino stressed Corona was instrumental in blocking efforts of his administration to exact accountability on Arroyo when the Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order in November 2011 allowing the former president to travel abroad.

Were it not for the immediate filing of charges against Arroyo, Aquino said there could not have been any justice for the Filipino people, particularly since the five-year prescription period for such cases to be filed is to expire by May 2012.