Negrenses form group pushing Corona ouster

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — Various sectoral groups in Negros Occidental have banded together to help push the conviction of Chief Justice Renato Corona by the Senate impeachment court.

The Negrenses for Corona Removal (N4CR), a newly formed alliance of organizations based in Negros Occidental, told the media in a statement that it is “backing the efforts being undertaken in Congress and the Senate to respectively impeach and convict Corona for being unfit for his current position.”

The group said that, since the start of the impeachment trial, it has been “convinced that Corona must be removed from the constitutional office that he occupies,” the group said.

“Corona lied, and lied blatantly, when under oath he intentionally under-valued the properties that he purchased. The discrepancy between the values of said residential condominiums that he placed in his SALN (statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth) as against the prices indicated in their respective purchase and sales contracts, do not lie, and cannot be refuted,” said the N4CR.

“That he became fabulously richer while in office and foolishly tried to hide the fact from us by describing a multi-billion peso condominium as an “apartment” also speaks volumes about CJ Corona’s character and how he betrayed the trust that the sovereign Filipino people placed upon him,” the statement went further.

“Chief Justice Corona is not like us. His position in the Supreme Court makes him more accountable for his actions than ordinary Filipinos. The authority bestowed upon him even gives him the power to determine life or death to some of us. To wield such enormous power he must have our absolute trust and confidence. That, unfortunately, is no longer present,” they stressed.

The N4CR also plans to do other activities to push for Corona’s conviction, including holding Masses for Truth and Justice, conduct information dissemination on the impeachment issues, hold a Impeachment Watch every Friday, and build networks and alliances in the provincial, regional and national levels, the convenors said.

The N4CR, composed of various progressive and social formation groups, has been calling for good and accountable governance and social reforms.

Its statement was signed by Eres Bernaldo of Bacolod Citizens Alliance for Good Governance, Jovito Berdin of Alliance of Labor for Reform, Nana Yulo of Negrenses 4 Noy2 Movement, Omon Maravilla of Negros Volunteers for Change, Jenhra Rose Garcia of Akbayan Youth, Leo Gaje III of Kabataan Liberal—Bacolod, Edwin Balajadia of BCAGG/Akbayan, Alex Ozoa of Peace Advocates of Negros, Andres Hagad of Liberal Party, Dondi Poblador of Tuloy Pinoy, and Andrea Si of PAN/Development Through Active Women Networking (DAWN). - THE FREEMAN