SUPREME Court Chief Justice Renato Corona has been accused of maintaining an illicit love affair with a woman, with whom he allegedly had children in his hometown Batangas.

But Corona quickly denied the allegation, saying it was just another “black propaganda” by his political enemies.

“That’s not true. It’s a black propaganda,” he replied in a text.

Corona’s lawyers likewise dismissed the report and bewailed the nasty, malicious personal attack against the Chief Justice.

Atty. Jose Roy III, former dean of College of Law and president of the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila and one of Corona’s lawyers, believed that the rumor came from rivals of the Chief Justice and was meant to insult and destroy his reputation.

“That’s absolutely false. He’s a moral, upright man,” he said of their client.

The rumor about Corona’s alleged mistress and illegitimate children circulated after he turned the table on President Benigno C. Aquino III yesterday and accused the latter of committing an impeachable offense over his alleged call to senator-judges convincing them to defy a SC ruling on Corona’s foreign deposit.

Playing safe?

Following the developments in the impeachment trial, do justices of the Supreme Court are now “playing it safe?”

This question popped out yesterday after it appeared that nobody from the SC wants to handle Chief Justice Renato Corona’s petition questioning the legality of his impeachment trial, and for the issuance of a temporary restraining order.

A source from the High Court divulged that Associate Justice Estela Perlas-Bernabe reportedly declined to handle Corona’s petition.

This means that the SC will have to conduct another raffle after the magistrate before Bernabe -- Associate Justice Presbitero Velasco -- likewise had inhibited himself from handling Corona’s case.

Velasco Jr. inhibited, citing as reason his son Lord Allan was one of the congressmen who signed the impeachment complaint.

The source, however, failed to cite Bernabe’s reason to inhibit. Surprisingly, Bernabe was appointed by President Aquino III.

Mr. Aquino’s other appointees in the high bench are  Justices Ma. Lourdes Sereno and Bienvenido Reyes.