MANILA, Philippines - Renato Corona took his oath behind closed doors yesterday as the 23rd Chief Justice, and later told the nation that he is his “own person.”
“Watch me,” he told reporters when asked how he intended to disprove public perception that he is a Malacañang lackey. “How? Everything I say now will just be words. You have to wait, you have to watch what I’ll do, don’t judge me now.”
Corona also told reporters that he had no problem with president-in-waiting Sen. Benigno Aquino III not taking his oath before him.
“The Constitution does not require the president-elect to take his oath before the chief justice. I have no problem with that. That is the prerogative of the president,” he said.
“I’m grateful for my appointment but at the same time, if you’re implying whether I would do anything to show gratitude to my appointment, no, because I am first and foremost my own person,” he said at a press briefing at the Supreme Court (SC) shortly after being sworn into office at Malacañang.
“By and with God’s awesome grace, I shall prove myself worthy of the responsibilities entrusted to me by our people of whatever color of persuasion and nature of belief,” he said in a statement.
“Undaunted by man or circumstance, and unswayed by praise or criticism, in me right will find a sanctuary and wrong will find no refuge,” his statement read.
Critics claimed Corona was given the job because of his loyalty to President Arroyo and that she needed an ally in the SC in anticipation of graft cases to be filed by her political foes.
“That’s what we’ve been talking about the past few minutes, we don’t know the extent of this political saber-rattling. All I know is that I’ve been appointed to this job, I’ll assume the responsibilities as chief justice,” he added.
Asked about his relationship with SC Justice Antonio Carpio with whom he reportedly had a falling out over differences in dealing with the administration, Corona said they remain friends.
“Don’t worry about that. Justice Carpio and I have been friends since 1966. It’s a friendship of 44 years since first year college. A friendship which is as long and solid as that cannot be easily broken,” he said.
Legal and constitutional
Corona also belied allegations that he was named to the post because of his closeness to the President.
“Let’s not talk about subjectivity. I’m only talking of what is legal and what is constitutional,” he said.
“As far as I’m concerned, the process has complied with all the requirement of the Constitution… we will do what we are mandated to do,” he said.
“There is not even supposed to be that personal relationship (with the President) because they probably don’t realize that my relationship with her has been a working relationship, it has never been a personal or a social relationship,” he said.
“There are some lawyers who are even closer, much closer than I am and I was to her,” he added.
Media barred
President Arroyo quietly swore Corona into office even as Palace officials dared Aquino to try to undo his appointment.
Corona took his oath of office at the President’s study at the Palace at 10 a.m. and only the in-house TV crew was allowed to cover it.
Copies of the footage of the event were later distributed to private networks.
He was seen seated in one of the benches at the Reception Hall prior to his oath taking. Protocol officers blocked TV crews trying to approach him for an interview.
Palace dare
Deputy presidential spokesman Gary Olivar said there was practically nothing Aquino could do but to recognize Corona.
Since Corona’s appointment was backed by the Constitution and validated by the Supreme Court and six precedents, Aquino’s only recourse might be to amend the Charter.
“There is so much on the plate of the incoming administration, but of course it is the president-elect’s prerogative to decide his priorities especially in his first 100 days,” Olivar told a news briefing.
“All we ask is this: if he doesn’t like the consequences of following the rules, please don’t defy them or ignore them. If he wants to make it his priority to fix or change the rules, that is his right. Just be careful about what you wish for,” he said.
He also chided Aquino for declaring that he would rather take his oath before a barangay captain.
“He (Aquino) has every right to behave churlishly, if he believes that that is what is demanded by his understanding of the electoral mandate he was awarded on May 10,” Olivar said.
“Alarm bells start ringing for the sturdiness of our Constitution, the republican principle of separation of powers among the three independent and co-equal branches of government, and our continuing efforts to build a rules-based society,” he said.
‘Heart in the right place’
In his statement, Corona vowed his term as SC chief would be “unfettered and uncompromised by encumbrances of whatever nature which would in one way or another hinder or impede me in the performance of these public duties.”
“My heart is in the right place and its loyalty is to the Constitution alone,” he added.
“I stake everything on this unconditional and unequivocal pledge of honor. Only by the standard of this forthright sworn fidelity am I willing to be judged in the times to come,” he pointed out.
“All this I swear, not by the heavens where God dwells nor by the earth which is his footstool, but solely upon the revered name and memory of my parents whom I so love and honor, and who ingrained in me from my earliest years a rock-hard sense of duty to God and country,” he said.
Defending Corona
Meanwhile, Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago urged critics to stop questioning Corona’s appointment.
“The problem with the critics is that they mistake the law as it is with the law as it ought to be, according to their layman’s interpretation. A line has to be drawn between the rule of law and the dystopian concept of freewheeling ethics,” she said.
“After the Supreme Court decision in De Castro v. Judicial and Bar Council last March, which settled the issue, any petition is now precluded, on the theory of so-called collateral estoppel,” she said. With Christina Mendez - By Sandy Araneta and Paolo Romero
