There is a very interesting and relevant recent piece of information from Germany which may have a relevance to the case of CJ Renato Corona. The erstwhile German President, Christian Wulff announced last Friday his resignation to pave the way quickly for his successor.  Just the day before that prosecutors asked the German parliament to lift his immunity from prosecution. 

Since December, Wulff had been the target of accusatory allegations largely over his connections with wealthy businessmen, initially over an advantageous loan from the wife of a friend.

Wulff continued to profess that he had  always been honest, though he admitted making mistakes. The reason for his resignation? He said that Germany needs “a president that enjoys the trust of not only a majority, but a broad majority of citizens.     The developments of the last days and weeks have shown that this trust and therefore my effectiveness have been damaged. For this reason, it is no longer possible to carry out the office of president both domestically and abroad the way it needs to be done.”

This resignation must at least have restored a modicum of esteem for Wulff. That was a more honourable thing to do than committing suicide. And certainly it showed that he was not a man to cling like a barnacle to his post of honor.

Recently also, another newspaper published    a report regarding a translator of the Supreme Court who was dismissed from her post because she did not declare in her SALN a market stall that she owned. In an en banc decision, the Supreme Court reportedly declared that people in the judiciary should not be only above reproach but above suspicion, and that they were held up to the highest standards of behaviour.

It seems to me that these pieces of news that have cropped up—one dug from the past decisions of the Supreme Court itself, and the other one of the most recent vintage— are both relevant to the case of CJ Corona.  It is not for me to pass judgment on his guilt or innocence. But the way things are shaping up, it would seem  that he is losing the trust of the majority of our people, and his effectiveness will continue to be damaged. For this reason, he may no longer be able to carry out the office of Supreme Court Chief Justice “in the way it needs to be done,” in the words of former president Wulff.

For one thing, it does seem that the  CJ has something to hide, and that he is not as forthright as a truly innocent person should be in his case. It does seem that the Chief Justice is not supremely just. I am not talking here of his objective innocence or guilt, but of a growing public perception, which will keep on growing unless he really shows “in due time”  that he is immaculately clean in the case against him. I am not saying either  that he should be denied the legal presumption of  innocence  to which he is entitled till proven guilty. I am only speaking of the growing lack of trust in the man who should be the most trustworthy because he is the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

It is for Chief Justice Corona to make the necessary assessment of the situation and of the damage to his effectiveness. I pray, for his sake and of the sake of the country and the judiciary, that he will be enlightened and make the right decision.