Chief Justice Corona  is now being tried  by the Senate which will have to pass judgment on whether the evidence presented against him warrants his being removed from office. I have welcomed the impeachment of the CJ not because I believe that he is guilty of the charges levelled against him, but because unless he is cleared, a shadow will continue to hang over his integrity and  hence also, over the whole Supreme Court of which he is the chief magistrate. Also, the impeachment of the CJ  demolishes the myth that the Supreme Court is made up of impeccable men and women whose judgments are to be considered beyond question,  if not infallible.  Definitely, as a result of this impeachment of the CJ, the justices of the Supreme Court will be more circumspect in their behavior and judgements, knowing that they may really  suffer  consequences of their  actions such as the CJ is now facing. This trial of the CJ will, I think, purify the Supreme Court and strengthen it as an institution. The impeachment and trial of Chief Justice Corona is  beneficial to our democracy.

I am very glad that the Supreme Court did not issue a TRO that would have prevented the Senate trial. Such a TRO would only have damaged greatly the credibility of the whole court. To the general public, it would have meant the complete loss of objectivity of the members of the court and would have shown them to be a clique interested more in their self-protection than in the common good and the purification of the Supreme Court itself.

It does no good to the cause of justice to seek to destroy the credibility  of the senators who are sitting in judgment. There are clear insinuations from members of the press that at least some senators  are themselves guilty of what they charge the CJ of, specifically in the matter of the SALN. If indeed they are to be accused of similar guilt, let the matter be brought to the people as an independent matter. The fact that a senator may have been a cheat or corrupt himself does not disqualify him from sitting as a judge in the impeachment trial, nor is it a factor that makes it likely for the said senator to be unfair to the accused. By a certain analogy, a priest who has been stealing from the parish funds is not by that fact disqualified from  hearing confessions and giving or withholding absolution from thieves who come to him  in confession. In the judiciary itself, a judge who may be having a secret illicit affair with a married woman  is deemed  nevertheless to give valid judgment on cases of adulterywhich may be brought before his sala.

The holding of the impeachment trial has definitely helped  PNoy to be perceived as dead serious in his fight against corruption.  You cannot have a bigger fish than the sitting CJ. Talk of political will to abolish or diminish corruption, PNoy manifests it in this instance.  We should pray that the truth will indeed prevail and that the common good will be served by this whole dramatic process.

Another person whose stock has definitely risen before the public eye is Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile. He has shown competence and fairness  in the way he has presided over the trial. This is a great redeeming moment for him, comparable to the historic mutiny in EDSA 1. Keep up the good work, sir!