Remains of ex-Chief Justice Corona leave Supreme Court after overnight vigil

The remains of the late former Chief Justice Renato Corona left the Supreme Court in Manila on Friday past 7 a.m., a post of the SC Public Information Office (SC PIO) on Twitter said.

The remains of the late former CJ Renato C. Corona leave the SC after lying in state overnight. pic.twitter.com/KXOZMOzCeI

— SC PIO (Official) (@SCPh_PIO) May 5, 2016

Staff of the SC held white balloons and paid their last respects as the casket containing Corona's remains was brought out.

Mga labi ni ex-Chief Justice Renato Corona, inihahatid na sa Heritage Park mula sa Korte Suprema. | via Carlo Mateo pic.twitter.com/PJtjRh5fux

— DZBB Super Radyo (@dzbb) May 5, 2016

Corona's wife Cristina was right behind Corona's casket as it was brought out of the SC doors.

A necrological service was held Thursday at the SC, and the public was allowed to pay their last respects until 11 p.m.

His remains will be brought back to The Heritage Park in Taguig City on Friday morning.

Corona passed away on April 29 after suffering from cardiac arrest. He was 67.

Corona was appointed in 2010 by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as Chief Justice, succeeding Reynato Puno.

Before he assumed the position, he served as Associate Justice of the SC from 2002 to 2010.

The ex-chief magistrate also served as Arroyo's chief of staff from 2001 to 2002.

He earned his Bachelor of Laws degree at Ateneo Law School in 1974.

In 1981, he was accepted to the Master of Laws program of the Harvard Law School.

In April 2011, Corona graduated summa cum laude from the University of Santo Tomas Graduate School with a degree of Doctor of Civil Law.

Corona was implicated in an impeachment case in 2012.

On May 29 that year, the Senate, voting 20-3, found Corona guilty of violating Article II of the Articles of Impeachment for his failure to disclose his assets in his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN).

During the necrological service at the SC on Thursday, Corona's wife Cristina hit back at the government for "unconstitutionally" unseating him. 

Cristina lamented how her husband became the "first casualty" of what she called the "war on judicial independence" that began when he was impeached in 2011 and continued until his removal in May the following year. —KG, GMA News