News Update Calls for Corona to stay off Arroyo cases mount; FPJ kin joins fray

Calls are mounting for Chief Justice Renato Corona to keep his hands off of cases involving former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo before the Supreme Court, with the grandson of the late actor Fernando Poe Jr. joining the fray. Bryan Poe Llamanzares, 19, son of Grace Poe-Llamanzares — who chairs the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board — claimed in a motion filed before the SC on Tuesday that Corona's "strong personal and professional relationship" with Arroyo, and his voting track record elicits a "strong perception that he is biased in favor of [Arroyo]." With Llamanzares as petitioners are fellow student leaders Mose Mikhael Albiento (Ateneo de Manila University), Gibby Gorres (University of the Philippines), and Ferozya Delia Simbulan (Student Council Alliance of the Philippines). The son of Poe-Llamanzares is a political science junior also at the Ateneo De Manila University. "[We] implore Chief Justice Corona to exercise his sound discretion and carry out his sworn duty to uphold a fair, impartial administration of justice by voluntarily inhibiting himself from participating in the resolution of the instant consolidated cases," the student leaders said in their petition. Corona's inhibition will "prevent the appearance of bias/or prejudice which, in one case, has been held as damaging to public confidence and the administration of justice as actual bias and prejudice," they added. [See also PNoy: All power emanates from the people, not from debt of gratitude] ‘Doing… Corona a favor’ Apart from the Llamanzares camp, two other petitioners on Tuesday filed a motion for inhibition against Corona. They are Bishop Augusto Sanchez who joined Yasmin Busran-Lao of the Bantay Gloria Network in a single motion, and Jaime Regalario of the Kilusan para sa Makabansang Ekonomiya (KME). "We are actually doing Chief justice Corona a favor here,” said Regalario. “Our call for him to inhibit from the Arroyo cases is an appeal to protect his good standing in the legal community,” the KME official noted. “[Corona] has nothing to lose from inhibiting. In fact, he will gain the respect of the public,” he added. In 19 Arroyo-related cases, Corona voted 15 times-three in favor of the former president's position and abstained in one, Llamanzares noted. "On a personal basis, my family did not forget what happened in 2004,” said Llamanzares. Poe ran for the presidency under the LDP (Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino) party against incumbent Arroyo in the May 2004 elections. He lost to Arroyo much to the consternation of his party, showbiz friends and relatives who claimed he was cheated. Then on Dec. 14 that same year, Poe, 65, died of thrombosis or blot clotting inside the vein. “As a representative of my family, it's important that I show my support for this,” Llamanzares said. “We are after the truth, not just in 2004 but all the cases against Arroyo that have taken place between 2004 and today," he added. Wait for Corona’s ‘action’ SC spokesman Midas Marquez asked the public to wait for Corona's "action" on the series of inhibition requests filed in court. "Once a magistrate, a judge, or a justice feels that he can judge the case impartially then there is no need for him to inhibit," Marquez said in response to reporters’ queries. The petitions of Llamanzares, KME, and Bishop Sanchez with Bantay Gloria Network brought to four the number of motions before the high tribunal pleading for Corona to inhibit himself from Arroyo-related cases. On Nov. 29 , whistleblower Rodolfo Lozada, also of Bantay Gloria Network filed a separate motion for the Chief Justice to restrain himself from hearing cases that involve Mrs. Arroyo. The Senate and a joint panel from the Department of Justice and the Commission on Elections are separately investigating alleged fraud during the 2004 and 2007 elections. Mrs. Arroyo, now a Pampanga representative, is also facing electoral sabotage charges before a Pasay City court in connection with the alleged irregularities in the 2007 national elections. Corona was appointed Chief Justice a week after the May 2010 elections by then President Arroyo, a controversial issue the Aquino administration to this day maintains was tantamount to a midnight appointment. In January 2001, when Arroyo assumed the presidency, she also appointed Corona as her chief of staff. She was appointed President after her predecessor Joseph Estrada was impeached for graft and corruption by the House of Representatives less than a month earlier on Dec. 14, 2000. Arroyo subsequently appointed Corona as presidential legal counsel and then as acting executive secretary. 'Rallying for the cause' Llamanzares on Tuesday said the Poe-Llamanzares family feels that the time is ripe to seek justice for what happened to his grandfather. "We feel this is our opportunity to bring out justice that we've been deprived of all these years. Finally, there are people rallying for the cause...” he said. “We're all here no matter what your age is, you have a right to defend the truth and you have a right as a voter of this country to find out the truth behind your government and never give that up," he added. The "personal interest" of the family has influenced his decision to file the petition, according to the late actor’s grandson. "Not just as a member of my family but as a student and citizen of this country, I can't allow the abuses that have been committed on such high level to go unquestioned," he said. — KBK/V