June 2, 2012
Eagle Eyes
By Tony La Vina
Manila Standard Today
By Tony La Vina
Manila Standard Today
It is good that Mr. Corona decided not to appeal his conviction. Let us leave him and his family in peace. If warranted by the evidence, the Ombudsman should file criminal charges against him. But that should be done with due process, affording Mr. Corona all the rights he has under the law. There is a difference between an impeachment process and criminal proceedings, the former being essentially political. The latter should never be politicized.
Let us now turn to impeachment’s aftermath – to the country. And let’s start with the Supreme Court. Remarkable is the court’s decision in its special en banc session held on Wednesday after receiving the Senate decision removing its chief justice from office. Led by Acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio, the court approved the release in full of the 2011 Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth of all justices and judges, a reversal of a 1989 decision that shielded them from requests to disclose their official record of personal wealth.
The stone continues to roll as more and more citizens are calling for all in public office to sign a waiver on the opening of their bank accounts. The President is resisting and time will tell how long he can keep this stance. Certainly, everyone realizes that the SALN is a potent instrument to exact accountability, that any serious untruth or nondisclosure can lead to serious repercussions.
With the decision by the Supreme Court to open up their SALNs, the “gods of Faura” conceded that no one is sacrosanct, none inviolable. If at all, the impeachment trial demonstrated that our democratic institutions can work, that we as a people have attained some measure of political maturity to respect our democratic processes, and that we can change our country for the better.
A new Philippines is possible. That is the message of the impeachment of Renato Corona. But note that I express a hope; there is no certainty that this will happen. In fact, pessimistic citizens believe that nothing will really change, and we will go back quickly to business as usual. I reject this cynicism. At the same time, as a legal and political practitioner, I know enough of the ways of the world to concede that reform can easily be defeated and turned back.
The test of whether it will be business as usual or authentic transformation, at least for the Judiciary, is in the appointment of the chief justice—the most important decision that President Aquino will make in his presidency. Nothing compares to this decision in cementing the straight road to good governance. It could also be the most lasting—its impact extending to another five to 10 years beyond President Aquino’s term that ends in 2016.
In making this historic decision, the president must avoid appointing a person for mainly political reasons. It would be a mistake if this appointment will be about pleasing one faction or another of his political coalition. What a waste of the political capital exerted in the impeachment and the gains achieved if we end up with a chief justice that is appointed because he or she is the most acceptable, politically.
The next chief justice must have integrity, exceptional intellectual capacity, vision and imagination, independence, and political skills to lead a divided court. He must be able to stand up to those who would block progress towards a transformed Judiciary that would support governance reforms, uphold the rule of law and be a bastion for social justice.
Given these qualities, the obvious choice is no other than Justice Carpio. The veteran justice, unjustly passed over by the former president who unconstitutionally appointed Mr. Corona, is not a saint. After all, he practiced law for decades before joining government in 1992 as the presidential legal counsel of President Fidel V. Ramos. Reversing the injustice done to Justice Carpio is enough reason for appointing him as chief justice. But beyond that and his record as private practitioner, what really matters is his record as public official and Supreme Court justice—which we can examine and evaluate.
Look for example at the leadership Justice Carpio exerted on his first day as acting chief justice—bringing a unanimous court with him to reverse two decades of perverse privilege. His decisions, whether in majority or dissent, are always solid, scholarly, brilliant, and visionary. He is consistently on the right side of environmental, social justice and public accountability cases. He knows the court and the Judiciary inside and out, and will be able to outmaneuver opponents to reform while winning to his side the many still on the fence.
Yes, a new Philippines is possible. And it starts with the appointment of Antonio T. Carpio as chief justice.
E-mail: tonylavs@gmail.com Facebook: tlavina@yahoo.com Twitter: tonylavs
(Published in the Manila Standard Today newspaper on /2012/June/02)
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