Professor X and Oracle were not amused.
It's over! He's now Former Chief Justice Corona! Woo-hoo! Let us party in the streets and celebrate this triumph of justice over evil and deception! This nation will finally become great again! Next, we solve poverty!
Wait. That isn't exactly happening anytime soon, is it? But at least, we get to send this "Thief Justice" to jail for being the scoundrel and the scalawag that he is! Hooray! Salutations to everyone! Cheerio!
Hold on. That's not happening, either. In fact, nobody's suing him for anything. He lost his position as Chief Justice, but his money, legit or ill-gotten as it may be, no longer has to fall under scrutiny anymore. So what was that all about?
Sure, some might say that the fact that we finished an impeachment trial for the first time in this nation's history is a big deal in and by itself. And to a large extent, it is. But just because a kid completes his first ever school project doesn't mean it's going to be a good one. The trial was littered with procedural errors, questionable sources of evidence, and a host of other issues. If this were a criminal or civil trial, the whole thing would've been declared a mistrial.
And like we all realized, especially with Noynoy conveniently ignoring one of his campaign promises, Corona's conviction doesn't bring about anything, except maybe a window of hope that the Senate would get around to passing the RH Bill or the Freedom of Information Act, two laws that would have far more immediate impacts on this nation than the ouster of one man who was merely a pawn in a political chessboard where this country's citizens are mere bystanders and spectators, rather than actual, meaningful players.
In the barbershop of life, we are the tambays looking on as two players jostle for victory in the dama board that is our nation. We don't really have much of a say no matter how much we try to coach either side.
It was, in the grand scheme of things, a monumental waste of time. Just like the whole overblown trial Joseph Estrada got, which resulted in him being found guilty then immediately being given a presidential pardon. Needless to say, that was the culmination of taxpayers' money at work: a criminal convicted of plunder is let go, and none of his assets were even sequestered for return to the government. Is that justice?
Now, we remove the highest magistrate of the land and let him go quietly into private life without so much as checking if the money he does have, the money he conveniently didn't declare as part of his net worth, is actually ill-gotten or not? Sure, it's a political exercise, but did it have to stop at being that, when we could have done something far more conclusive? Something that sends a message other than "prosecutors can succeed despite themselves, so long as it's politically beneficial to throw someone other than the bus"?
Where do we go from here, then? And no, I don't mean Noynoy going out on another date with Grace Lee or something. We went through the motions of this trial, we removed Corona from power, and yet are we any closer to recovering the wealth we insist GMA accumulated since 2001? Hades, we haven't even recovered the money from the Marcoses yet!
It was a mockery of a process, because it did so much yet accomplished so little. The senators did their jobs to the best of their abilities, but clearly, it was a job that wasn't anywhere nearly as important as other important issues of the day that, if resolved, would immediately affect lives.
We've gotten to a point where discussing anything else is met with a real opportunity cost. Dilly-dallying on these issues would only serve to further this problem, and that is certainly alarming, to put it mildly.
So yeah, we've had our fill of jokes, armchair experts, and everything else in between. Despite that, after everything has been said and done, now, we have to get down to business. Now, we have more important things to do.
CJ Corona wishes to be left alone, after losing his position, yet still holding $2.4 Million and 80 Million pesos in his bank accounts. Who won here? Who lost here?
Clearly, the Filipino nation was the loser again, because running after the Coronas, the Arroyos, and the Marcoses hasn't really gotten us back any of the money we insist was stolen from our coffers, and we just keep putting them in power, regardless.
It's time we focused our attention on the things that would directly affect us, and for the better.
Wait. That isn't exactly happening anytime soon, is it? But at least, we get to send this "Thief Justice" to jail for being the scoundrel and the scalawag that he is! Hooray! Salutations to everyone! Cheerio!
Hold on. That's not happening, either. In fact, nobody's suing him for anything. He lost his position as Chief Justice, but his money, legit or ill-gotten as it may be, no longer has to fall under scrutiny anymore. So what was that all about?
Sure, some might say that the fact that we finished an impeachment trial for the first time in this nation's history is a big deal in and by itself. And to a large extent, it is. But just because a kid completes his first ever school project doesn't mean it's going to be a good one. The trial was littered with procedural errors, questionable sources of evidence, and a host of other issues. If this were a criminal or civil trial, the whole thing would've been declared a mistrial.
And like we all realized, especially with Noynoy conveniently ignoring one of his campaign promises, Corona's conviction doesn't bring about anything, except maybe a window of hope that the Senate would get around to passing the RH Bill or the Freedom of Information Act, two laws that would have far more immediate impacts on this nation than the ouster of one man who was merely a pawn in a political chessboard where this country's citizens are mere bystanders and spectators, rather than actual, meaningful players.
In the barbershop of life, we are the tambays looking on as two players jostle for victory in the dama board that is our nation. We don't really have much of a say no matter how much we try to coach either side.
It was, in the grand scheme of things, a monumental waste of time. Just like the whole overblown trial Joseph Estrada got, which resulted in him being found guilty then immediately being given a presidential pardon. Needless to say, that was the culmination of taxpayers' money at work: a criminal convicted of plunder is let go, and none of his assets were even sequestered for return to the government. Is that justice?
Now, we remove the highest magistrate of the land and let him go quietly into private life without so much as checking if the money he does have, the money he conveniently didn't declare as part of his net worth, is actually ill-gotten or not? Sure, it's a political exercise, but did it have to stop at being that, when we could have done something far more conclusive? Something that sends a message other than "prosecutors can succeed despite themselves, so long as it's politically beneficial to throw someone other than the bus"?
Where do we go from here, then? And no, I don't mean Noynoy going out on another date with Grace Lee or something. We went through the motions of this trial, we removed Corona from power, and yet are we any closer to recovering the wealth we insist GMA accumulated since 2001? Hades, we haven't even recovered the money from the Marcoses yet!
It was a mockery of a process, because it did so much yet accomplished so little. The senators did their jobs to the best of their abilities, but clearly, it was a job that wasn't anywhere nearly as important as other important issues of the day that, if resolved, would immediately affect lives.
We've gotten to a point where discussing anything else is met with a real opportunity cost. Dilly-dallying on these issues would only serve to further this problem, and that is certainly alarming, to put it mildly.
So yeah, we've had our fill of jokes, armchair experts, and everything else in between. Despite that, after everything has been said and done, now, we have to get down to business. Now, we have more important things to do.
CJ Corona wishes to be left alone, after losing his position, yet still holding $2.4 Million and 80 Million pesos in his bank accounts. Who won here? Who lost here?
Clearly, the Filipino nation was the loser again, because running after the Coronas, the Arroyos, and the Marcoses hasn't really gotten us back any of the money we insist was stolen from our coffers, and we just keep putting them in power, regardless.
It's time we focused our attention on the things that would directly affect us, and for the better.
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