Corona insists impeachment connected with Hacienda Luisita

Although Malacañang has already denied it, Chief Justice Renato Corona maintains that his impeachment was a consequence of the Supreme Court’s decision to distribute the Cojuangco-owned Hacienda Luisita estate in Tarlac to its farmer-tenants.   “This whole sordid affair has all been about politics from beginning to end," Corona said in his speech delivered Friday night during the blessing of the Justicia Room of the Ateneo Law School in Rockwell Center, Makati City. "It is about Hacienda Luisita: the P10 billion compensation which the President’s family reportedly wants for the land that was simply lent to them by the government; the need to terrorize and instill a chilling effect on the justices of the Supreme Court to be able to bend their decisions in favor of the Malacanang tenant,” he added.   Malacañang has denied any connection between Corona’s impeachment and the Supreme Court’s decision on Hacienda Luisita.   But Corona believes otherwise. In his speech, he said the “teetering towards one-man rule, where the rule of law is undermined and the system of government… is destroyed.”   Corona, widely associated with embattled former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, is currently being tried by the Senate, sitting as the impeachment court, after the House of Representatives impeached him last December for betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the Constitution and graft and corruption.   Before the start of his trial last month, Corona accused President Benigno Aquino III, who has openly criticized Corona, of rallying his House allies to impeach him due to the SC’s decision last November to distribute the 4,915-hectare sugar estate owned by the President’s family to over 6,000 farmer beneficiaries.   Rights violated   Corona, in his speech, further cried foul over supposed violations of his human rights committed during his trial.   “The objective here has been to, from the very beginning, destroy me and my family without even giving us any fair chance to defend ourselves… I can no longer count how many of my constitutional rights have been blatantly and grossly violated,” he said.   He particularly criticized some senator-judges whom he accused of bias against him.   “As if the impeachment trial were not enough, some senator-judges have taken on the role of prosecutors and have converted what should be an adversarial proceeding into an inquisition,” Corona said.   Corona also took a swipe at the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) for launching an investigation on his family. He likewise hit two daily newspapers, a broadcast network and “paid netizens” whom he accused of “vilifying” and “crucifying” him. Waste of taxpayers' money   He also dismissed the impeachment trial as waste of the public’s money.   “Obviously, taxpayer’s money is being used to destroy us and such ruthlessness and malice the likes of which I have never seen in my entire life. And for what?” Corona said.   Corona’s camp has asked the Supreme Court to stop the Senate impeachment trial due to supposed violation of the chief justice’s rights committed during the proceedings. The high court has asked both camps in Corona’s petition to submit comments within 10 days.   To end his speech, the chief justice said that despite these, he is thankful that he still has the chance to clear his name.   “I want to tell you that I have nothing to gain but everything to lose in this fight. But I will have proven true to myself. I thank God for this one great opportunity of a lifetime (which does not happen often) to show that, in this world, there are still men who are willing to lose everything, including their lives, for what they believe in,” he said. – KBK, GMA News