Who stands to gain from Corona Impeachment Trial?

Who really stands to gain from the Corona impeachment trial? If Corona is impeached, will real changes follow in the judiciary? What kind of changes are needed? Is this fight only about graft and corruption, and nothing else? 


Until now, Malacanang has not given us any inkling as to the kind of reforms the President wants to do with the judiciary. Reforms are actually administrative matters which only the Chief Justice is allowed by the Constitution to do. The President said, this impeachment trial is part of a "cleansing process" which will benefit the Judicial department in the long run.


However, Malacanang is still clueless as to the specific changes it wants. It only knows one thing--oust Renato Corona as Chief Justice. Will the ouster of Corona put an end to graft and corruption in the judiciary? 


I bet my Singdollar that this so-called "opening and public disclosure" of Corona's SALN will be the first and the last time a member of this institution will publicly disclose his SALN. After this trial drama, and Corona's impeached, every single thing will revert back to its original status. Money will still change hands in the judiciary. Money will still be the prime "influencer" in decisions rendered by the Courts. Why?


Any human-made institution is vulnerable to corruption. Even in modern countries, judges are also being corrupted and are corrupting the system too.  


Moreso, this impeachment trial, when it began, has already harmed democracy in this country. Instead of real changes, democracy has been put under a very dangerous state.


If Corona's impeached, and the entire Supreme Court is changed by people close to the Palace, what then will this Court be like? It will just be a rubber stamp by a strong Chief Executive. The independence of this Court has been compromised. 


The same thing will happen if Corona manages to stay---every single decision will be questioned ab infinitum by a Strong Chief Executive. Even decisions handled by law firms and lawyers who became part of Corona's defense panel will always be subject to doubt and scrutiny. 


Malacanang is courting serious political problems when it did this. What happens for example, if the Supreme Court, who is now handling the electoral protest of palace close-in Mar Roxas, decides to issue a denial of this protest case? Will the Roxas camp just keep its silence and respect the decision of the Court who earlier accused him of conspiring to oust the Chief Justice?


Or, what will happen if the SC renders a favorable decision? Certainly, the Binay camp will accuse both the Palace and the Judiciary of conspiring against Binay or even Binay accusing the Palace of forcing itself before the Judiciary, hence, the unfavorable decision?


What happens now to pending cases which are political in nature?What happens now to cases where the government is a party? Even if the Supreme Court renders a decision entirely based on law, in the minds of the public, these decisions are tainted already.


A favorable or an unfavorable outcome in this impeachment trial is immaterial now. Corona's part in this this case has now been been rendered irrelevant. Corona has now dragged the entire institution into the pits. 

Oplan Sagip Bansa: A Plot Against the Aquino Administration

"Save the Queen part xxxx?"

Several texts have circulated about an alleged plot by several military men to oust the Aquino administration. The plot, according to these texts, is backed by several big businessmen. The plan? Disrupt the impeachment trial thru a military action.


Several sources have neither confirmed nor denied this plot codenamed Oplan Sagip Bansa. What is certain is that the planners behind this plot want a reprise of the so-called "EDSA Dos" which catapulted Mrs. Arroyo to power. Now, the plot, again according to other sources, is to save Arroyo from her current political plight.


A cabal of military officers, according to some sources in the underground, are behind this plot. A series of meetings were held outside Metro Manila during the holidays with these military officers. Four things were discussed:


1. The alleged Leftist links of the Aquino administration
2. The alleged demoralisation among the ranks caused by the filing of criminal charges against former general Jovito Palparan
3. The alleged mismanagement of the economy of the Aquino administration
4. The alleged fear of the military of  a possible Leftist takeover of government before 2016


No leader has been identified. No specifics as of this time, has yet been determined. What is certain is that the plot has been discovered already by the Aquino administration. Several operators of this administration have been mobilised to determine the extent of support the group got.


Likewise, several police officers have reportedly placed their support behind the so-called plot. A rumor has been circulating that the reported replacement for PNP Chief Nicanor Bartolome has been scratched from the list of President Aquino for being a known and very close associate of former Arroyo general, Hermogenes Ebdane. 


Ebdane, according to several sources, is still supportive of Arroyo. Fact is, he is allegedly behind efforts to protect Commissioner Garcillano from turning state witness. Efforts at reaching and getting the reaction of the Zambales governor about this have failed. 


If true, this plot will be the first try of anti-Aquino forces against this administration whose sole  objective is to cleanse the bureaucracy of misfits and grafters.

Simmering social volcano waiting to explode

Next week, the impeachment trial teledrama will unfold before an economy-weary nation. This teledrama will hug most of this country's headlines, blanketing the skies and hiding the tired, old faces of working men and women now victimized by skyrocketing oil prices and food stuffs.


The World Bank has already warned countries like the Philippines-- food riots and anti-government sentiments will increase as food risks become extremely obvious. At present, 26 million Filipino families consider themselves unable to eat three square meals a day, a problem which this administration thinks is soluable thru the Pantawid Pamilyang Pinoy program--a program which has been proven to be ineffective in several areas considered as extremely poor.


Joblessness pervades, as both foreign and local investors show weariness and are wary of the present condition of the economy. It does not help that a former president writes about the economic condition, something which she knows very well because she created these crises anyway. 


Next week, expect to be amused as how a Chief Justice can very well spend 14 million cool cash to buy a 300 square meter condo, with just under 70,000 pesos monthly pay. Expect his enemies to dish out every single infraction, and showing him as an illegally appointed Chief Justice whose lifestyle exceeds his income. 


While the dominant elite groups battle it out with elites of the former dispensation, the plight of the Filipino remains unresolved. The financial woes experienced daily by the ordinary Juan dela Cruz will exacerbate to a point that living in Manila is not fun, but extremely dangerous to one's health. 


This inter-elite struggle will come to a boiling point--or some say, a tipping point--where extremes will battle it out with extremes, something like what the world expects of a Pacquiao-Mayweather Jr. fight. 


As elites oust those traditional elites, the dominant issues will remain unresolved. 


Big oil companies use the simmering Middle East conflict as reason enough to further up the ante, while government duets with them and even threatened to impose oil rationing just for the public to accept those skyrocketing prices. 


How then can it be fun in the Philippines when even Filipinos now cannot even travel due to high transportation and food costs?