CJ CORONA: THE VERDICT

photo from TWITPIC

1.  Senator Angara:  .."given his experience in public law, the willful and deliberate omission of depends is a culpable violation of the constitution..."   


2.  Senator Arroyo:  .."what started in the House of Representative is not an impeachment..."


3.  Senator A. Cayetano:  ..."all public officials should have the same standard of transparency and accountability..."


4.  Senator P. Cayetano:  ..."to follow a contrary view to the Code of Ethics would set a deadly precedent..." , .."Failure to declare $2.4M and P80M is not a minor inaccuracy..."


5.  Senator M. Defensor:  ..."the burden of proof is in the prosecution.  I have adopted the standard of overwhelming preparedness of evidence..." , .."I am insulted by the way your minds run..."


6.  Senator Drilon:  ..."the question about declaring one's SALN goes into the heart of moral fitness to hold public office.."


7.  Senator Escudero:  ..."Simple na lang ang kailangang 


desisyunan, hindi nga ba kailangan ideklara dahil sa 


FCDU law? Hindi ko masasangayunan ang punong 


mahistrado, hindi nagbabanggaan ang mga batas. 


Kung ayaw magdeklara, huwag tumakbo [for public 


office]. Kung naninilbihan sa pamahalaan, dapat 


magdeklara..."


8.  Senator Estrada:  ..."I regret to say that I am not convinced because the Chief Justice is a learned man of law,..."

9.  Senator Guingona:  ..."he violated the “sanctity of the Constitution..."

10. Senator Honasan:  ..."We have not proven that the defendant is corrupt or malicious... What is clear is that he is not longer fit to preside over the highest court of the land...Doubt is the opposite of faith."

11. Senator Lacson:  ..."it hard to believe his [Corona] 

testimony that he does not understand accounting,” 

noting that at a certain point, Corona had nearly $4 

million and some P91.4 million in his accounts."

12. Senator Lapid:  ..."It was clear for me, Corona violated 

the constitution. He himself admitted to the amounts 

in his bank accounts,”...“I thank him because I took 

my oath with him. Sorry, sorry, but my verdict is 

guilty,....”

13. Senator Legarda:  ..."if they acquit the Chief Justice, they 

tragically lift floodgates on corruption and also lower 

bar of public accountability..." 

14. Senator Marcos:  ..."The framers of the constitution 

intended culpable violation of the Constitution to 

mean a woeful and intentional violation of the 

constitution. Betrayal of public trust meanwhile was 

meant to be a catch all phrase to encompass all acts 

violative of the oath of office which render the officer 

unfit to continue in service,..."

15. Senator Osmeña: ..." it was Corona himself who gave the reasons for his conviction."

16. Senator Pangilinan:  ..."the chief magistrate was no longer fit to lead the Supreme Court."

17. Senator Pimentel:  ..."Corona’s admission, under oath 

that he did not disclose properties on his statement of 

assets, liabilities and networth (SALN).", .."not 

convinced by Corona’s defense on why he failed to 

declare his dollar accounts in his SALN..."

18. Senator Recto:  .."mandatory for public officers to submit true declarations of their assets,”

19. Senator Revilla:  .."I have heard all the arguments and 

considered all the pieces of evidence. I heard directly 

from the honorable chief justice himself. Napakahirap 

man, alang-alang sa pagkakaisa at paghilom ng ating 

bayan,.....”

20. Senator Sotto: ..."Ang taongbayan ay naghalal ng mga 

senador mula sa ibat-ibang propesyon at estado ng 

lipunan upang katawanin at bumigkas ng kanilang 

saloobin. Ang tunay na hukom sa paglilitis na ito’y 

taongbayan. Nadinig nila ang dalawang panig. Tulad 

namin, hindi lahat sila abogado pero ang 

kapangyarihan ng demokrasya ay nasa kanilang 

kamay,”...

21. Senator Trillanes: ..."Transparency and accountability as principles in governance take precedence over legal technicalities,”

22. Senator Villar: ..."pero naniniwala ako na dapat pantay-pantay ang implementasyon ng batas kaya ako ay bumoto ng guilty."

23. Senator Enrile: .."Through all my 88 yrs, I too have been judged often unfairly & harshly, we have recourse to the judgement of history & God"

It’s 20-3 !

The verdict – GUILTY