Militant group asks Corona to inhibit from Arroyo cases

MANILA, Philippines - A group of militants trooped to the Supreme Court (SC) yesterday to ask Chief Justice Renato Corona to inhibit himself from cases involving former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for poll fraud.

Calling themselves “Bantay Gloria Network,” the group said Corona should recuse himself in the petitions of Rep. Arroyo questioning the legality of the watchlist order issued against her by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the joint preliminary investigation conducted by DOJ and Commission on Elections (Comelec) that led to her indictment for electoral sabotage.

“With all due respect, Chief Justice Corona’s close personal and professional relationship with petitioner (Arroyo), taken together with his voting track record in which he consistently upheld petitioner’s position in ‘politically-significant’ cases and the statements he made during the oral arguments, undeniably create a strong perception that he is biased in favor of petitioner Arroyo,” the group said in a seven-page motion.

Petitioners, who sought intervention in the cases of Arroyo in the high court, cited a Newsbreak report that of 19 “politically significant” cases from 2004 to 2008 – during the Arroyo administration – Corona voted 15 times in favor of the position taken by the Arroyo administration.

They also recalled the statements of the Chief Justice during oral arguments last Nov. 24 where he stressed the importance of upholding one’s constitutional rights against the government’s interest in prosecuting Arroyo.

Corona was a former chief of staff of Arroyo when she was still president. She appointed him as associate justice of SC in 2002 and chief justice before her term ended last year.

The Supreme Court upheld as constitutional Corona’s midnight appointment as chief justice.

The group, numbering about a hundred, was led by losing senatorial bet Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel, Juan Carlos Tejano and Leah Navarro of the Black and White Movement, and national broadband network-ZTE whistleblower Jun Lozada. They held a loud protest program in front of the SC building simultaneous to the oral arguments held on the petition of Arroyo questioning the joint DOJ-Comelec probe.

“We’re expecting him (Corona) to inhibit. Otherwise, the people might be forced to just impeach him,” Baraquel told reporters.

The motion was filed a week after Senators Franklin Drilon and Francis Pangilinan called for Corona’s inhibition from all cases involving Arroyo.

SC spokesman Midas Marquez said he believes the chief justice is aware of such calls for inhibition.

“But some groups have also called for his staying in the case,” he stressed, citing pronouncements made by Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago and Comelec Chair Sixto Brillantes.

“If the justice thinks that he can’t decide the case impartially, he can always inhibit for any reason. But the fact that they’re staying in the case, they have a firm belief that they can handle it impartially,” he explained further.