The Supreme Court has eulogized former Chief Justice Renato Corona, who died of cardiac arrest last week, and honored him for fighting for judicial independence.
Court employees paid their last respect when the remains of the 23rd chief justice arrive at the SC. Corona has been remembered by them for fighting for judicial independence, which had been threatened when he was impeached and subsequently removed by allies of President Benigno Aquino III in Congress.
They wore white clothes and black armbands—reminiscent of the silent protest held by court employees during Corona’s impeachment.
Associate Justice Teresita Leonardo-De Castro, who is acting chief
justice while the three most senior justices are on leave, and other magistrates led the necrological rites for Corona held at the highcourt’s session hall.
“We prayed with him [during impeachment],” De Castro said.
Associate Justices Bienvenido Reyes and Arturo Brion also shared their memories of their former chief. “He will be remembered as chief justice who went out of his way to
ease the burden [of court employees],” Reyes said.
Reyes recalled that the ousted chief magistrate “never raised his voice—not even during most heated discussion” and that he “never lost common decency and civility.”
In his eulogy, Brion said that Corona told him he was not the one that the executive wanted to bring down but rather the independence of the judiciary.
“Art, he said, it is the judiciary that they want to tame and bring to its knees, not Renato Corona. Independence too is not solely mine to give away. In the end he paid dearly for his cherished values. He suffered with utmost dignity,” Brion added.
Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno, who succeeded Corona at the helm of the country’s 15-member bench, was on sick leave yesterday, but she already visited the wake of Corona in the Heritage Park earlier this week.
Corona’s wife Cristina thanked former colleagues of her husband in the high court, calling them their “extended family.”
Mrs. Corona narrated how the former chief justice fought the executive to defend the judiciary as she appealed on the members of the judiciary not to surrender the fight. She branded Corona’s impeachment as a “war against judicial independence.”
“The war is not over… Never let the same injustices happen again… Continue to fight for democracy, continue to fight for the judiciary, continue to fight for judicial independence,” Cristina said, in an emotional speech.
Corona’s daughter Cherie said their father has already forgiven those behind his ouster.
Under Corona’s watch, the high tribunal in Nov. 2011 ordered the distribution of the 4,915.75-hectare Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac to over 6,000 farmer workers-beneficiaries of the sugar estateowned by President Aquino’s family. In his separate opinion on that case, Corona pushed for lower compensation to the owners of the hacienda based on the fair market value of the land in Nov. 1989.
A month later, allies of President Aquino in the House of Representatives voted to impeach Corona over charges of hidden assets and partiality to Arroyo.
After the impeachment trial – the first in judicial history – the Senate voted 20-3 in May 2012 to convict him for betrayal of public trust due to failure to disclose all his properties in his statement of assets,liabilities and net worth. He was then removed from office and succeeded by Chief Justice Sereno.