Downfall of Corona won't strengthen Aquino

The downfall of Chief Justice Renato Corona does not necessarily mean the glorification of President Noynoy Aquino. If Corona is corrupt, which is what his impeachment case purports to prove, Aquino is even more so, in more ways than one.

In the case of Corona, everything boils down to money. With Aquino, it is bankruptcy of character and corruption of the soul. He is totally devoid of decency and propriety, and in their stead he has embraced arrogance and hooliganism.

Aquino is like a ruthless thug who cannot restrain himself from wanting to engage in a street brawl despite the delicate parameters that his lofty office imposes on the chosen few anointed to occupy it.

Corona did not ask to be impeached. It was Aquino who orchestrated all the moves that he should be. He even made sure Corona reaches trial by ordering the railroading of the process. And now he wants to scrap the process altogether?

Shedding all pretenses to decorum and respect, Aquino is now openly demanding that the Senate convict Corona, threatening the senator-jurors that if they don’t, he will lead the people in venting their wrath on them in the next election.

Having ordered that Corona be subjected to impeachment, the least Aquino could have done was to let the process take its due course without his further interference and meddling. But he is not just meddling and interfering, he is now actually dictating the outcome.

Cebuanos have adjectives to describe such a twisted character: “Bastos. Walay batasan.” Aquino fits these descriptions to a tee. But the unfortunate thing is that he not only debauches his own self. He cheapens the presidency as well, and then cheapens the nation.

If Corona goes down in flames, and there is little doubt now that he won’t regardless of the verdict, he goes down in flames alone. But no bells will ring when Aquino emerges triumphant. No angels will sing praises for the manner in which the victory was achieved.

Getting what he wants is proving to be very costly, not only to the presidency but to the institutions that have been dragged into the fray as well. And all because of the consuming need to protect his family’s interests in Hacienda Luisita at whatever cost to the nation.

The Supreme Court, slowly getting filled with his own appointees, has been reduced to a trembling platoon of Cub Scouts that even a justice secretary can sneer at. The Senate tries to put up a face of independence but knows the reality is just the opposite.

Congressmen? They were the first to be compromised. They did not stop at prostituting themselves. They agreed to be deployed as mercenaries, soldiers of fortune to whom conventions of war do not apply. Tupas? Quimbo? Umali? Banal? Their names will litter our history with shame.

Our poor nation is the worst casualty of one man’s corrupted soul and lack of character. He parlayed all our time-honored traditions and principles of due process and rule of law for the simple expediency of political vendetta and his family’s economic survival.

When a nation’s leader has a corrupted soul and a flawed character, truth gets buried alive and the nation gets crippled, such that while lusty cheers greet the hanging of Corona, not a peep is heard to condemn the farce of a trial that ensured his hanging.

The lawyers of Corona are being crucified for doing their jobs as well. They did not ask for this trial. It was Aquino who made sure Corona is brought to court. So why should lawyers be criticized for defending him, unless of course he is deprived of that right as well.

The Aquino mantra of truth is a sham and it is sad people fell for it despite signs early in his presidential campaign that he respects no truth but his own: Back then, he threatened to unleash people power if he loses. That is not a man willing to accept truth speaking.