Independence or Incompetence?

Chief Justice Renato Corona’s speech yesterday which in many words can be translated to declaring war against President Benigno Aquino is inevitable. It was a defensive stance of someone who was caught off-guard. He doesn't have anywhere else to go but fight. Unfortunately, it is pathetic. Not because he read the entire speech in the vernacular. If he was up against someone who has a questionable character like the two former presidents then the effect may have been different. He may have gained sympathy from the public and he may have chosen a bigger venue to launch his attack against the President. Unfortunately for him, the latest surveys showed that the President is enjoying more than 70% trust rating with Corona one of the least trusted officials. Even the text poll from TV Patrol the other day showed that about 80% of the respondents are in favor of the decision of the House of Representatives to impeach the Chief Justice.

The chief justice even had the nerve to criticize the President when he himself is failing miserably at his job. If he is doing a great job then I’m sure he will not be in this mess. What has happened to the Supreme Court? Why are the people seeing the Supreme Court in a bad light and how do you explain the low trust rating of the Chief Justice?

The act was desperate and I can see that the Chief Justice is trying to drag the institution that he swore to defend into his own mess. The impeachment case is not against the Supreme Court but against the Chief Justice. It is not like someone is trying to control the Supreme Court and destroy its independence. It is the incompetence and partiality of certain justices inside this institution that is under attack. Had they shown competence and fairness in the cases that they have handled then I don’t think that we will have this problem. The impression that I am getting is that the Supreme Court is running counter to the Aquino administration. How can this administration affect its reforms and policies if there will be legal impediments along the way and if they keep on losing legal battles with other parties? Yes, they can say that they are independent but is this helping the country? Absolutely not! In fact, I think this is only helping the critics and the people who don’t want this administration to succeed.

If the Chief Justice is really thinking the best interest of the country, then he should do what former Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez did and resign. He should spare the country from another impeachment trial and let us all move on. I would rather watch teleseryes on TV than to watch the drama of politicians and lawyers on another impeachment trial. Their acting suck!