‘According to his family, still stricken with pain and grief, Corona’s ‘very unjust’ ouster took quite a heavy toll on his emotional and physical health.’
SENATE President Chiz Escudero probably did not expect the storm of protest against his apparent opposition to the impeachment trial of Vice President Sarah Duterte. Major universities like UST, La Salle, Ateneo and UP are leading the charge of the Millennials and Gen Z to compel the Senate to comply with its Constitutional duty.
The Senators should not forget the immense power this generation now wields, as evidenced by the recent election results.
The Senate’s apparent attempt to violate a lawful provision imposed by our Constitution should be another wake-up call to the young generation to intensify its public mobilization, especially against Escudero, who should be forced to resign as Senate President.
The fate of Duterte in the impeachment trial may yet turn out to be miserable and tragic. Let me cite the ordeal of then-President Joseph Estrada and Chief Justice Renato Corona.
The trial of Estrada failed to complete this constitutionally-mandated process after the Presiding Judge, then Chief Justice Hilario Davide, aborted it and allowed the walkout of the senators-judges who did not favor the majority decision of the Impeachment Court. This was the issue of whether or not to accept an alleged major evidence in a sealed brown envelope as evidence of the prosecution.
Was this not a patently unjust and outrageous decision fed by partisan politics perpetuated by the Chief Justice himself that, instead, led to Estrada’s ouster in a political coup supported by the military??
The legal basis for the filing of impeachment raps against Corona, caused by certain questions on his SALN, has been debatable since then. President Noynoy Aquino reportedly instigated the move to impeach him, after the latter had led the High Court in issuing a landmark ruling awarding the farmers of the Sta. Lucia Hacienda (owned by the Aquino and Cojuangco families) their overdue and genuine ownership rights to the vast estate. Aquino was reportedly enraged by Corona and had mobilized his allies in Congress to have him impeached.
The Chief Justice, along with the majority of the SC justices, were appointees of former President GMA. Despite the strong objections of several senators led by the feisty Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago, Corona was convicted and removed as Chief Justice.
According to his family, still stricken with pain and grief, Corona’s “very unjust” ouster took a heavy toll on his emotional and physical health. Four years later, he would suffer a massive heart attack and pass on.
