Charges Against CJ Corona

So far, I had three (3) articles on this blog and five (5) more in my Unleashed: My Take On The News about the ongoing impeachment trial of Chief Justice (CJ) Renato Corona. In all of them, I was discussing the developments in the case  and I noticed that I was getting higher organic traffic (visits sent by search engine results) to my sites through searches for key phrases related to the impeachment case. One such phrase is “charges against CJ Corona” which when I checked my articles did not enumerate them all.

For above reason, I have this blog post to enumerate and explain a little about the document containing the charges brought up by the House of Representatives (legally called “Articles of Impeachment“) against the Chief Justice. Culling from the various resources available online, below is the summary of the cases to be heard at the Senate impeachment court against CJ Corona:

I. Impeachable Offenses Charged to CJ Corona

A. Culpable Violation of the Constitution (CVC)

B. Betrayal of Public Trust (BPT)

C. Graft and Corruption (GNC)

II. Charges against CJ Corona

1. partiality and subservience in cases involving the Arroyo administration (BPT);

2. failure to disclose to the public his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (BPT, CVC);

3. his role in the issuance of flip-flopping decisions in final and executory cases, the appointment of his wife to a public office, and discussing pending cases in the SC with litigants (BPT, CVC);

4. his role in the issuance of the “status quo ante” order against the House of Representatives in the case concerning the impeachment of Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez (BPT, CVC);

5. his vote in the decision in favor of gerrymandering in the cases involving 16 newly-created cities, and the promotion of Dinagat Island into a province (CVC);

6. improper creation of the SC ethics committee (BPT);

7. granting a temporary restraining order in favor of former President Arroyo (BPT); and

8. failure and refusal to account for the Judicial Development Fund and special allowance for the judiciary collections (GNC)

Now on its second week of trial, the prosecution is in the process of presenting witnesses and securing possible evidence for Article of Impeachment II (Item II.2 above) while the defense is doing its best to prevent the prosecution from gathering evidence which they claim are irrelevant and immaterial to the charge of CJ Corona’s failure to disclose to the public his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN). I already have an article about impeaching CJ Corona for ill-gotten wealth which right now is the main issue in the Senate impeachment tribunal.