Category Archives: Columns

Article II of the impeachment complaint charges Chief Justice Renato Corona with failure to include “some of [his] properties” in his statements of assets, liabilities and net worth. If proven, what is the penalty for such omissions? So readers ask. Continue reading →

The Constitution grants the Senate “the sole power to try and decide all cases of impeachment.” Despite this solemn mandate, may the Supreme Court intervene and/or stop the Senate from discharging its “sole power”? Specifically, may the high court restrain a Senate subpoena? Continue reading →

When it became clear that he had lost his people’s trust, US President Richard Nixon voluntarily resigned from the most powerful position in the most powerful country in the world, rather than face the ignominy of a public impeachment trial in the US Senate. He courageously accepted the essential truth that he had lost the fitness and the ascendancy to lead his people. Continue reading →

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile asked the prosecution and the defense to speed up the on-going impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato C. Corona. Continue reading →

Contrasting are the strategies of the opposing counsels in the Corona impeachment trial. Banking on the live TV-radio coverage, the prosecution uses the power of media to influence thought and galvanize opinion. Au contraire, the defense relies on legalese and technicalities to rattle the prosecutors and to bar the public exposition of allegedly “impertinent, irrelevant and immaterial” evidence. Continue reading →

The Senate, acting as an impeachment court, denied the motion of Chief Justice Renato C. Corona’s lawyers for a preliminary hearing to enable him (Corona) to show (1) that the impeachment complaint filed by the House of Representatives was not properly verified, and (2) that the House denied him due process for filing the complaint without giving him prior notice and hearing. Continue reading →

I was startled when, without any prior notice and hearing, 188 members of the House of Representatives filed a verified complaint for the impeachment of Chief Justice Renato C. Corona. I thought that due process required notice and hearing before an impeachment charge could be filed in the Senate. So, I hastened to reread the constitutional provisions on impeachment. Continue reading →

Many commentators and analysts believe and profess that impeachment is a legal and judicial matter decided mainly by strict legalisms. By its nature however, impeachment belongs more to the people than to lawyers; more to public wisdom than to legalisms. An impeachment proceeding is sui generis; has its own unique genre, and is equal to no other. Continue reading →

AS the New Year dawns, I think we should all count our blessings and thank the Lord for every new day. As for me, when I retired from the Supreme Court in December 2006, I thought that my workdays were over and that I would just pursue my “APOStolate” tending my 10 wonderful grandchildren. Little did I know that retirement really meant a change of tires to prepare for a new journey. Continue reading →

It started with a modest attempt to stitch together my favorite songs—classical, Broadway and popular—to celebrate my 75th birthday. It was to be held at home with a string band and the choirs of the Supreme Court and the Asean Law Association singing before 120 relatives and close friends. Continue reading →