Rody Duterte and Renato Corona

www.philstar.com /opinion/2016/04/30/1578274/rody-duterte-and-renato-corona
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FROM A DISTANCE By Carmen N. Pedrosa (The Philippine Star) | Updated April 30, 2016 - 12:00am
Two years ago I wrote a column using the title The Golden Rule. I think it is his legacy. He may be dead but he
left an important lesson about good and evil. It was during his term that the SC decision on the ownership of
Hacienda Luisita became final and executory.
I wrote this article because of the Aquino governments response to the Yolanda tragedy that took many lives and
properties destroyed and lost. But when SWS made a survey it concluded people were generally satisfied with
the government.
Francisco Sionil Jose who is the national artist for literature recently said Rodrigo Dutertes popularity is the
voice of angry Filipinos.
In a Facebook post titled Why Duterte, he said the Duterte vote is the voice of Filipinos angered by corruption
at all levels of our society and lack of inclusive growth.
If Duterte wins the election, his victory will be brought about by millions of Filipinos fed up with corruption at all
levels of our society, and frustrated that the gains of the Aquino administration do not translate into their improved
welfare and safety. The Duterte vote is the voice of angry Filipinos, he said. True.
Many Filipinos are worried he will either be cheated or worse, assassinated.
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I cannot forget that when Corona was being tried for impeachment the national artist for literature was not as
angry. Indeed, his opinion about Duterte representing the anger of the people contradicts what he said then.
I remember the day well. We had to rush to Club Filipino because Coronas lawyers were to make an important
announcement. They received advanced information through reliable sources that millions were being given to
the senators to impeach Corona.
The debate in the Corona impeachment trial in 2012 goes on because it is framed as a choice between the rule
of law or fighting corruption. Was the impeachment of Corona a small price to pay for Aquinos matuwid na
daan?
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I was puzzled by what he wrote in his column.

Some saw the event as a dramatic conclusion of a political telenovela. Actually, it was a morality play and the
triumph not so much of justice but of good against evil. Now that all is said and done, we must ponder and
realize that what mattered most was truth as justice in action, and this action is the ideal pursuit of our very lives,
by which we measure the ultimate goal and purpose of society itself.
He then goes on to expand on this by answering Sen. Miriam Santiagos question on why we are considered
one of the most corrupt countries in the world?
Perhaps, without being quite conscious of it, by her acquittal of Corona, she answered her own question. We
have reached this state of apparent moral metastasis because leaders like her and there are so many of them in
and out of Congress who are hobbled by their tremendous self esteem, their encyclopedic legal knowledge, they
forget that the basis of law is moral. Were she cognizant of this, she would have joined the majority vote in the

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Senate.
He then arrives at a crucial point that I think is the substance of his position.
Naked power of government? Why not if that power is used to bring justice to the people, to prove that that poor
clerk of court in Davao who was fired from her job because she did not put in her SALN statement the small stall
in the public market which she owned that justice is for all.
The President is now truly engaged in this historic reform movement starting with the most important institution
which impacts on our lives, particularly the very poor. His emphasis is on the revitalization of ethics in
government, that henceforth, government officials must follow the daan na matuwid.
Many would agree legality should be backed by what is moral. But what if the law was corrupted in the guise of
being moral?
A number of well meaning friends insist that the unfair trial of CJ Renato Corona is a small price to pay if it serves
as a lesson against corruption. That sounds reasonable enough until you punch the holes and realize that it is
more rotten than the detested corruption.
The question is whether an unfair trial is justified by a campaign against corruption.
.The manner in which 188 congressmen rushed through the articles of impeachment in three hours without
bothering to read it while others went along but did not sign was unconstitutional from the start. It was a portent
of the kind of trial that would take place. (We now know why the rush!)
Yes, there are media people who saw all this but only a few dared to write. There were many side issues. To me
the most important is the question of whether an individual can get a fair trial when all the resources of the state
are marshaled against him. He was pronounced guilty in the media even before he could plead his innocence.
Fighting corruption through breaking the law is simply not the way to go. As a reviewer of Emile Zolas Jaccuse
said when you break the law to correct flaws in a nation, you break the nation. I agree.
It took 12 years to unravel the truth on Dreyfus in 1894 in France, but a few people led by the author Emile Zola
dared and made a just trial for all their cause.
Days after Coronas conviction, President Aquino was on his way to the United States.
Aquino recently won a major battle in his campaign against corruption with the sacking of the countrys top
judge. Aquino has also agreed to let more US troops rotate but not be based in the Philippines despite the
historical baggage. President Obama said in welcoming him:
Ive always found President Aquino to be a thoughtful and very helpful partner, Obama said. And I think that
as a consequence of the meeting today in which we discussed not only military and economic issues, but also
regional issues for example, trying to make sure that we have a strong set of international norms and rules
governing maritime disputes in the region that Im very confident that were going to see continued friendship
and strong cooperation between our two countries, he said. What could be clearer for those who want to see.
Were it not for the names, the country and the date, the story of Emile Zolas campaign for a just trial for Dreyfus
is as contemporaneous as the story of Coronas conviction in the Philippines circa 2012.

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