PERRYSCOPE
Perry Diaz
On
November 17, 1973, the embattled U.S. President Richard Nixon faced media
editors and defended his record in the Watergate scandal in June 1972, saying
that he never profited from his public service. “People have got to
know whether or not their President is a crook. Well, I’m not a crook. I’ve earned
everything I’ve got,” he said.
But
it was not enough that Nixon emphatically insisted, “I’m not a
crook.”Faced with certain impeachment in the U.S. House of Representatives and
conviction in the Senate, Nixon resigned the presidency on August 9, 1974.
Philippine
Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona’s trouble with the law has stark
similarity to Nixon’s attempt to deceive the public. “I’m not a
crook”was a forceful statement that is not dissimilar to saying “I am
innocent,” which is a more subtle way of conveying the same message.
In January 2012, when Corona’s impeachment trial began, he declared: “Only
death can stop me from defending myself against my enemies. I am innocent
of all the charges being leveled against me.”
***
Last
May 22, Corona took the witness stand to testify in his own defense. He
requested to deliver his opening statement to the people, which the presiding
officer and Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile allowed.
His
opening statement turned out to be a scathing attack against President Benigno
Aquino III whom he accused of orchestrating the impeachment case, Ombudsman
ConchitaCarpio-Morales, Land Registration Authority (LRA) Administrator Eulalio
Diaz III, the House prosecution team, the media, critics, and members of the
Basa-Guidote clan. He spared no one; not even the deceased patriarch of
the Basa-Guidote clan, Jose Ma. Basa III, whom he insulted — and defamed — by
saying that he was an unemployed “spoiled brat” who oppressed his own mother
and lived off his parents’ money.
The
highlight of his “opening statement” was his debunking of the testimony of
Carpio-Morales who testified before the impeachment court on May 14 and
presented a 17-page report prepared by the Anti-Money Laundering Council
(AMLC), which detailed 705 transactions involving 82 dollar deposit accounts
and 31 peso deposit accounts owned by Corona in nine branches of five banks in
Metro Manila.
Corona
claimed that he currently has only four dollar deposit accounts and three peso
deposit accounts, which he admitted were not reported in his Statement of
Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN). He said the other accounts had
already been closed.
After
almost three hours of emotional testimony — dramatized with tearful moments —
Corona declared that he had no legal duty to disclose his dollar accounts in
his SALN due to the foreign currency deposit confidentiality law.
However, in an unexpected twist, he pulled out a pen from his breast pocket and
signed a document, which he said was a waiver authorizing banks to disclose his
dollar and peso deposit accounts.
He
also authorized AMLC, LRA, the Bureau of Internal Revenue, and the Securities
and Exchange Commission to disclose his records. And finally, he directed
the Clerk of Court of the Supreme Court to release his SALNs from 2002 through
2011. It was brilliantly executed and electrifying! Bravo, maestro!
***
Then
came the stinger! He directed his defense team to distribute blank copies
of the same waiver he signed and challenged Sen. Franklin Drilon and the 188
congressmen who signed the impeachment complaint to do the same. And in a
display of defiance, he declared:“This is not a manipulation. This is a
challenge to public accountability. I am no thief, no criminal, I haven’t done
anything wrong but I am also no fool.”
And
then he said that if they declined to sign their waiver, there was no point in
his waiver and he directed his defense team to rest the case. He then
stood up saying, “The Chief Justice of the Republic of the Philippines
wishes to be excused,” and walked out.
Enraged
by Corona’s walkout, Enrile ordered a lock-down, which prevented Corona and his
wife Cristina from leaving the Senate building to the basement garage where his
car was waiting by the exit door… with engine running.
Prevented
from leaving the building, the Coronas went to the Senate clinic and then to
the Senate executive lounge. He emerged on wheelchair together with his
son-in-law, Dr. Constantino Castillo, who told the media that Corona was
suffering from low blood sugar and high blood pressure, and was feeling dizzy.
One
hour after he walked out, Corona went back to the trial room on a
wheelchair. After Enrile dressed down defense counsel Cuevas, he directed
Corona to return the next day for direct and cross- examination. The
Coronas then took off and went directly to Medical City.
***
The
following day, Corona did not show up at the resumption of the trial.
Cuevas informed Enrile that Corona was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit
for “close monitoring” for 48 hours because he was considered a “high risk” for
possible heart attack.
Enrile
then ruled that the defense bring Corona back on May 25 at which time the
defense would finish its formal offer of documentary evidence. He
directed the prosecution and defense teams to be ready to make their closing
arguments on May 28. And with finality, he said that a verdict would be
rendered the same day or the following day at the latest.
***
What
puzzles me is: Why did Corona walk out? Based on the verbal and body
language that I observed, I believe that Corona used the impeachment court as
bully pulpit to attack Aquino and others whom he perceived as the real
perpetrators and conspirators of his impeachment. In my opinion, Corona
didn’t want to be subjected to a grueling cross-examination where the
prosecution could pry deeper into his financial affairs and open a can of worms
that would only strengthen the case against him.
It
was a no-win situation for Corona. But in the end, he avoided the dreaded
cross-examination and instead opted to leave it to the discretion of the
senator-judges to decide whether to swallow his testimony hook, line and sinker
without the benefit of cross-examination.
But
he could have avoided the cross-examination without drawing the ire of the
senator-judges – and the public — by simply asking the presiding officer to
excuse him because he was feeling dizzy due to low blood sugar. Enrile
wouldn’t have any choice but to let him go.
***
At
the end of the day, it was his arrogance that finally did him in. When he
referred to himself in the third person, “The Chief Justice of the
Republic of the Philippines wishes to be excused,” he projected himself as
being above the impeachment court. His supremacy and primacy
couldn’t be questioned in any manner by a bunch of politicians.
It
didn’t help Nixon get off the hook by merely saying, “I am not a
crook,” 40 years ago. Likewise, I don’t think it would help Corona
prove his innocence by merely saying, “I am no thief, no criminal, I haven’t
done anything wrong but I am also no fool.” That’s not enough. He
had to demonstrate it and live it… convincingly. And that’s what the
senator-judges would judge him by.
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