Chief Justice Corona, curses, and court cases

This week on December 19, 1839, patriot and propagandist Jose Ma. Basa was born in Binondo, Manila. The Basa family was one of the most prominent families in Cavite and Manila and was known for their active involvement in the Philippine revolution against Spain. Jose Ma. Basa was the son of Matias (Jose) Basa and Joaquina de San Agustin. He married Bernarda Panlaque and one of their children, Jose Basa, Jr., later married Rosario Guidote.

Jose Maria Basa became the most renowned member of the family and was a good friend of Jose Rizal. Perhaps his greatest contributions to Philippine history are his smuggling of copies of Jose Rizal's novels, the Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, to the Philippines, and making his home in Hong Kong the base of operation for Filipino revolutionaries. A further interesting connection of Basa to Philippine history was the marriage of his great-granddaughter, Cristina Basa Roco, to Renato Corona. Cristina is the granddaughter of Jose Ma. Basa, Jr. and Rosario Guidote and when Renato Corona married Cristina, he married into the entire history of the family and the role they played in our country's past.

As any Filipino knows, Renato Corona became the country’s 23rd Chief Justice in 2010 when he was appointed to head the Supreme Court by then-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. His impeachment in 2011 was another clear example of the interconnectedness of families and events in Philippine society and history. At the center of this impeachment trial were questions over the finances of the chief justice and his wife.

An interesting aspect of Cristina's family is their constant involvement in litigations; the impeachment trial and eventual ouster of Corona was just the tip of the iceberg in their unfolding history. When Cristina's grandmother, Rosario Guidote Basa, died in 1983, the entire family started suing each other, with Cristina and her mother Asuncion Basa de Roco against the rest of the family. The family war and court cases would drag on for years and Cristina would later file a libel suit against her uncle and aunt, Jose Ma. Basa III and Randy G. Basa, in 1997 where the court found the defendants guilty. In that same year Jose Ma. Basa III unsuccessfully tried to stop the nomination of Renato Corona as a possible contender for the position of associate justice.

Jose Ma. Basa was himself involved in sensational litigation. After Rizal’s death, his common-law wife, Josephine Bracken, filed a lawsuit against Rizal's family to claim her inheritance from her martyred husband. Included in her demands was that Jose Ma. Basa, who was entrusted by Rizal with his extensive and expensive library, surrender the books to her. Josephine even wrote a series of letters to Ferdinand Blumentritt, Rizal’s Austrian friend, asking him to intercede on her behalf with regard to Rizal’s extensive book collection. Since Josephine was unable to provide proof of her marriage to Rizal, the matter was no longer pursued further.

It cannot be denied that the Basa family earned their place in Philippine history with Jose Ma. Basa's contribution to the revolution and his role in bringing Rizal’s books to the country. His descendants, including his own great-granddaughter and her husband, have not been as lucky as he had been. Nevertheless, although it came a little bit late, Renato Corona’s name was cleared recently when the Sandiganbayan junked the forfeiture case against him, ruling that “Corona had other sources of income apart from his salary” and “at most, he may be held guilty of simple negligence for having failed to ascertain that his SALNs were accomplished properly, accurately, and in more detail.”

Digging deeper into history, one finds these interconnecting patterns among families and historical figures that continue to influence events in our country today.