Plain demagoguery

 It is sad that the Black and White Movement, Akbayan and a host of other organizations have resorted to taking out full-page advertisements in the newspapers to step up their attacks against Chief Justice Renato Corona.

 Apparently, they have taken the cue from President Aquino, who insisted it is his right to air his opinion, notwithstanding the fact that the subject of his opinion is now a matter that is under litigation in an impeachment case at the Senate.

 That Aquino is not a lawyer is no excuse for him to disregard judicial processes at work, especially one that he himself caused to be initiated. He is the president, for God’s sake. The level of wisdom he is expected to demonstrate far transcends that of any lawyer.

 The ads that have started to appear represents the worst of our fears, that this country is moving inexorably closer to anarchy. The ads are a manifestation of a dangerous refusal to abide by judicial processes.

 It is very clear what the ads are for. They are intended to convict Corona in the bar of public opinion in case the president and his minions do not get what they want from the Senate. And that is a very sorry excuse for democracy.

 Democracy does not reside in just about every exercise of freedom. That is why there are laws to govern all human conduct, even those done in the name of freedom. Without responsibility, any act undertaken in freedom’s name is no freedom at all. It is demagoguery.

 The ads contain subjects that the Senate, sitting as an impeachment court, have yet to pass judgment on. In fact, the Senate is yet far from resolving the case as the defense is yet awaiting its turn to exercise its right to rebut and refute them.

 But because the president has taken the initiative in taking the case of Corona directly to the public, he effectively has made the Senate impeachment trial a farce. The only son of a supposed democracy icon has just struck the deadliest blow yet against Philippine democracy.

 Of what use is proceeding with the impeachment trial when the very leader of the nation has chosen to ignore the work he himself has tasked the Senate to do? What then was all the haste for in filing the impeachment charges if in the end he has no intention to respect the process?

 But even more objectionable than the publication of information that is still subject to court litigation is the assertion that what Aquino and his minions are doing is a holy search for the truth.

 Nothing can be a bigger lie than this assertion. Aquino does not have a monopoly on truth. In fact, by his own words and actions, he has just demonstrated what a big hypocrite and liar he is.

 On his inauguration, he swore by the Bible to uphold the Constitution. What happened to that sacred oath? It is hard to find anyone in contemporary Philippine history who holds as much contempt and disdain for the Constitution and the rule of law than Aquino.

 And he calls this his search for truth? Of what use is truth derived from the tactics employed by the Devil? What Aquino is doing is like presiding over a kangaroo court, employing torture to ferret out confessions, which civilized nations have outlawed as being unacceptable. 

What does it profit Aquino’s fight against corruption if finding Corona guilty by means other than those prescribed by law, fair play and common decency only results in the erosion of the country’s institutions?