A bad episode of "Maalaala Mo Kaya"

Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona finally took the witness stand this afternoon in his own impeachment trial. What eventually happened at the Senate session hall was like a plot taken from a Filipino or Latin American telenovela: a badly written script, family drama, sex (CJ Corona said that there's one senator who wants to, uhm, "strip him naked"), a not absolute waiver, a walk out, confusion, a Senate lockdown to prevent *someone* from escaping and a questionable medical emergency.

All of these almost never happened after a heated discussion between lead defense counsel Serafin Cuevas and private prosecutor Mario Bautista threatened to overshadow CJ Corona's testimony. When it was finally his turn, the embattled Chief Justice began with a super long opening statement, which almost bored me to tears since he didn't really answer the allegations against him but instead appealed for public sympathy. Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile had to interrupt him several times to ask how long his opening statement is going to last and to ask when he is precisely going to start addressing the issues against him. CJ Corona tells everyone that he has done nothing wrong, that he is being persecuted wrongly and that he, in fact, lives a "simple life" (I'll just ask Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie to define "simple"). He even says that they don't have a maid and that they don't even use an aircon (very important information, thanks for sharing). He then goes on the attack against the Basa family members (his wife Cristina Corona's relatives) who were present during the trial, President Noynoy Aquino, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales, Senator judge Franklin Drilon and the 188 congressmen who signed the impeachment complaint against him.

CJ Corona laundered dirty family linen for everyone to see by narrating the infighting over his wife's family-owned Basa-Guidote Enterprises Inc. (BGEI). He calls his wife's deceased uncle, Jose Maria Basa III, a jobless "spoiled brat" and blames him for the entire family drama that spilled over to his impeachment trial. However, Jose Maria Basa III isn't the one on trial here so this was just a pointles exercise. The Honorable Chief Justice also did not explain how the Php 34-M check (issued by the Manila City government) from the sale of a BGEI property in Sampaloc, Manila ended up in his bank account and undeclared in his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth or SALN.

The Chief Justice then attacked PNoy for "orchestrating" his impeachment trial since the President wasn't happy with his Hacienda Luisita ruling. I know that CJ Corona got a lot of political brownie points for ruling in favor of the farmers but the President (and his Cojuangco side of the family), again, is not the one on trial here. Dear CJ, please just answer the allegations that are being thrown against you.

Next on his target list was Ombudman Carpio-Morales. He presents a rebuttal PowerPoint presentation (using pie charts) to counter the Ombudswoman's "power presentation", which he previously called a "lantern of lies". He says that many of the accounts had already been closed and admits that he only has 4 dollar accounts (out of the alleged 82) and 3 peso accounts as of December 2011. If I understood his testimony correctly, I think he meant that he no longer has 82 accounts, which means that these may have probably existed in the past but are already closed now. He even takes a dig against the Ombudswoman, questioning how clear her conscience is and if she is able to sleep soundly at night. Our dear CJ however did not testify on the "circuitous fund movements" in his bank accounts that the Ombudswoman raised and the "suspicious" bank transactions that were allegedly made during "suspicious" dates.

I was about to give CJ Corona props when he goes on to sign a waiver on the bank secrecy of his dollar deposits and to authorize various government agencies to disclose information on his (and his wife's) assets, liabilities, business interests and finances. This was, however, not absolute and came with a condition. His waiver would only be released if Senator Drilon and the 188 congressmen who signed the impeachment complaint submits a similar waiver themselves. CJ Corona argues that they are all on trial here, hence the signing waivers. Tsk, tsk. This is not a game of chicken or touch move (besides, having you all compete in the future in a Hunger Games type competition would be much more exciting). Memo to CJ Corona: YOU ARE THE ONE ON TRIAL HERE, not Senator Drilon and the 188 congressmen. What you did was a cop out.

After a testimony that lasted for about 3 hours, CJ Corona decides to end his statement with the following words: “Now the Chief Justice of the Republic of the Philippines wishes to be excused”. Without being discharged by the impeachment court and without opening himself up for cross-examination, our dear CJ walks out of the Senate session hall, surprising everyone, including lead defense counsel Cuevas. (I'm actually more worried about this guy's health. I hope somebody checked his blood pressure.)

A visibly outraged Senate President Enrile, who felt that the impeachment court was disrespected by the walk out, then orders a lockdown to prevent CJ Corona from escaping. The defense later on comes out with a statement saying that the CJ's blood sugar went down and that he had to go to the clinic to take his medicine. (A video from ANC shows that he was in fact trying to go to the basement via the elevator before he was stopped by 7 members of the Senate.) He then returns in a wheelchair (looking like this minus the neck brace). Senator Enrile (who gained a lot of pogi points for his effective handling of the walk out incident) angrily tells CJ Corona and his defense team that his entire testimony would be disregarded if he doesn't return the following day for cross-examination. Don't know if this is still happening since he has just been taken to The Medical City. Perhaps he's going to take a page from disgraced Egyptian former President Hosni Mubarak for maximum "paawa" effect.

All in all, what happened this afternoon was a publicity stunt gone wrong. CJ Corona's opening statement was written  in such a way as to elicit as much sympathy as possible. However, he throws every little gain that he's made with a stupid act of arrogance. The Basas must be asking who the real spoiled brat is right now. Whoever his image consultant is should be fired immediately. I bet National Artist Carlo J. Caparas would have probably done a much better job.