It seems that the Philippines is in the middle of a repeat of the wholesale con of the Filipino people by the Aquino-Cojuangco clan that was the 2010 Philippine Presidential Elections. Despite overwhelming evidence that the prosecution team had misled the Filipino public with the unverified and outright false “evidence” they had submitted to the Senate court overseeing the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona, the political bloc of President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III merely stepped up its publicity drive to demonise Corona.
Recall what transpired in the trial session on the 21st March 2012 where…
The slow death-by-pahiya of the prosecution panel was presided over by tough-as-nails defense counsel Noel Lazaro who made the prosecution panel admit item-by-item the ruling out as “cancelled†of at least 17 of the 45 properties brandished by the prosecution team led by Niel Tupas Jr to the media at the start of the trial. Of the remaining 28 properties, only five were found to be directly under name of Corona and his wife Cristina — a far cry from the shocking outrage of 45 properties that the prosecution insinuated was acquired by Corona under suspicious circumstances.
| SUPPORT INDEPENDENT SOCIAL COMMENTARY! Subscribe to our Substack community GRP Insider to receive by email our in-depth free weekly newsletter. Opt into a paid subscription and you'll get premium insider briefs and insights from us. Subscribe to our Substack newsletter, GRP Insider! Learn more |
The revelation of deceit was at such an astounding scale that it cast a pall over the entire trial. It was like a big elephant representing the prospect of mistrial suddenly appeared in the room. Suffice to say it is an elephant that everybody, for now, would pretend doesn’t exist. Nevertheless, the spectacle prompted several Senator-Judges to express their disbelief of how such an outright lie and deliberate effort to deceive could be taken so far. Senator Joker Arroyo called it “sickening”.
The obviously right thing to do is to apologise, and some Senator-Judges think so. According to Senator Loren Legarda, “You cannot go to town with unverified information, especially given the big difference between the reported number of properties and what was submitted…. If they made the correction in a press conference, the correction should also be made in a press conference.” Senator Jinggoy Estrada didn’t mince words. “May I tell you, to advise your spokesmen to rectify the error and take back what they said in the media that indeed, the properties of Chief Justice Corona are not 45, because I think the damage has already been done. It was already instilled in the minds of the public, in the minds of the people, or even in the minds of the court that Corona has 45 properties, when in fact, they are not 45.” Estrada said.
The prosecution has so far not shown any inclination towards apologising for this act of impropriety. This will be the second time since the 2010 elections that a massive insult to the intelligence of an entire people will be engineered by the political bloc of Noynoy Aquino. At its disposal are awesome resources — “cooperative” media behemoths ABS-CBN and the Inquirer.net, both of which benefited enormously from the rise to power of Noynoy’s mother, former President Corazon “Cory” Aquino. Shortly after the ascent to power of the late former President Corazon Aquino, ABS-CBN ownership reverted back to the Lopezes. ABS-CBN is also widely credited for creating the “People Power†and “Edsa Revolution†concepts, encapsulating the entire drama that saw the fall of former dictator Ferdinand Marocs and the “return†of “democracy†to the Philippines under those two catch phrases, and engineering the ingraining of these notions deep into the Filipino collective psyche through its omnipresent media channels. And in the lead up to the 1986 “people power†“revolutionâ€, the then fledgling Philippine Daily Inquirer was lucky enough to have bet on the right horse. It was a big bet made while supposedly espousing reporting objectivity as evident in its chosen slogan “Balanced News, Fearless Viewsâ€.
Just recently, the Inquirer.net figured in what was widely-perceived to be a deliberate humiliation of defense witness Demetrio Vicente after the paper published on its front page unflattering photos of Vicente who, in his facial expressions, exhibited signs of struggling to cope with what could be permanent effects from a stroke he had previously suffered. The paper did issue an “apology” later. But it was one that…
(1) did NOT directly address Mr Vicente;
(2) did NOT acknowledge the disrespect and lack of taste it exhibited; and,
(3) did NOT express regret.
Nonetheless, the witch hunt, fishing expeditions, and inquisitions mounted by the Aquino bloc continue unabated (though not surprisingly). For her part, “investigative journalist” Raissa Robles came up with a blog post that “reported” speculative information that supposedly points to a portfolio of Corona properties that exists somewhere in the United States — something that Corona also denied recently in a press statement:
“The addresses cited by Raissa Robles were apartments rented by my two daughters (both licensed physical therapists in the US) at various times over the past 14 years.”
The Chief Magistrate pointed out that these were merely temporary mailing addresses when his daughters were still rented by his daughters Carla and Charina.
Between a self-described “investigative journalist” who once declared that she does not believe in the rule of law, and Chief Justice Corona whose assertions on how much properties he really does own had already been proven right before the Senate court, I wonder who the Filipino people are going to believe? If these are, as many of them would like others to believe, the devout Catholics they aspire to be, then maybe they should consider that their spiritual leader — Jesus Christ, himself — was sentenced to be crucified by a court of public opinion not too different from the one we are seeing today.
But that’s Philippine society for you — a society where the wrong arguments win pretty much 80 percent of the time, and where the the “National Debate” is dominated by characters whose primary skill revolves around a talent for appealing to the sentiments of the uneducated and starstruck of the lot.
benign0 is the Webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.com.
Lol. Noyt@rds still mad at CJ for possessing… 5(?) properties. Har har har.
It doesn’t matter daw bec he will still be convicted. Says a Proud43’er. Haha.
Yep, it looks like the yellow zombies and vincenzo are butthurt over the fact that corona doesn’t own 45 properties.
Dumbasses like them are too dumb to realize that they are still being conned by the aquino clan till now.
I woke up this morning and saw the Philippine Star headline with amusement. “P-Noy: I’m in control.” Our sleeping president miraculously awakened and transformed! I am looking back at the start of the Senate Impeachment Trial. Analyze it. He was trying to control the same starting from the drafting of articles to the Lower House enforced signature campaign and speedy transfer procedure to the Senate for trial. He even had regular meetings with select members of the prosecution and was in constant communication with his support allies. So what happened? The prosecution had no planning, organizing, directing and controlling of the evidence. In other words, there was no prosecution management. Their ignorance of the law and procedure showed many times. Yeah, right! Mr. BS Aquino and his henchmen were in control and look what happened to their case.
in control nga ba? e he just said in an ambush interview by the same paper, published today. that he is “not sure” if he needs emergency powers. in control but not sure on what to do. irony at its best.
just listened to robles being interviewed by her employer – abs-cbn.
no wonder she didnt want to appear in court or do interviews.
she is inarticulate, illogical and unable to answer many questions.
Mmmm. does she have a ghost writer!
I agree with your observation. I saw an old video of her being interviewed and she didn’t look and talk like an “investigative journalist” to me. Just saying…
inggit kalang dahil sikat na si raissa robles ..gumawa kayo ng gimmick nyo .
sikat saan? sa paglabas ng mali maling articles?
it is also clear that there is a frantic spree by the oligarchs to establish a stronger hold on the economy through buying companies/state assets and being awarded lucrative govt contracts.
the cost of competing will keep major foreign competition out of the philippines – apart from 60/40 – and an economic and political dictatorship is established with a compliant media, and even court if corona can be removed.
tge sheer greed, deceit and hypocricy could only happen in the philippines
the aquino administration is misleading the country by this no good impeachment trial!!!
maka arroyo lang kayo.ha!ha!ha!
Iyan ang paniniwala ng mga taong-grasa sa Pilipinas.
Anti-intellectual, indeed.
My comment on your squatter mentality coated reply:
http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk208/Raptorianxd/Motivational%20Posters/EpicFail.jpg
it’s not being for arroyo, it’s just stating the fact that aquino and his 188 allies, didn’t do the proper research on the trial. malinaw naman siguro na kung ikaw ang kinasuhan ng 45 tapos mababago yun to 44. di ka rin aangal? na mali ang prinesinta ng prosecution syo? and ako na sasagot para syo, “hindi ako ang nasasakdal”. you find it alright for others to face injustice but if your own neck is on the line, it would be a different story.
i just checked raissa robles site – ‘about me’ section
she is a self proclaimed journalist having “contributed” to newspapers. so have i. big deal.
that is not being a journalist.
and she has never been a contract working journalist just someone who occassionally contributes to an obscure newspaper.
now it becomes clear.
she is an arms length pawn for info fed to her. not even the intellect to question. and certainly no integrity.
” times of london” she is joking and lying. investigate her credentials. her credibility is zero
Marami p ring dpat harapin si Corona k2lad ng pagiging midniGht apPointeE ni Gloria, pagsisinungaling sa SALN, dollar aCcount, pagnanakaw sa mga sariling kamag anak at ang mrami raming mga properties nya kht hndi tUgma sa kaBuUang nyang sahod
And most are from unreliable sources and hearsays.
That “midnight appointee” fiasco is solved.
Dpat hnd tnangGap ni CoroNa ang midniGht apPointment dhl bwal na magApPoint si Gloria. Kaya galit n glit dyan si Tito nOy dhil pekeng chieF justice sya. Kht si Karen jimenO pumirma sa petitioN KOntra sa kanyang am0.
Hehehe, that’s not even the whole issue, bord.
In fact, it was the JBC who made the decision, not even Corona or GMA. So go to them and complain. BTW, wala kang maipapakita na ebiodensya dahil wala kang kaalam-alam sa batas at sa mga proseso.
Because of your squatter mentality, you’re dragging this country into the gates of hell.
Mahiya ka naman sa nanay mo. Bigyan mo naman siya ng binabayad sayo ng yellow mob at huwag mo ubusin oras mo kakatambay sa computer shop at kakahithit ng rugby.
petitions are petitions, but the sc is the final word when it comes to the law of the land. so sinasabi mo mali ang desisyon ng sc na payagan iappoint ni gma ang cj, to think paalis na si puno ng may 17? or was it 15? basta a few days after the elections? sc decided on that, if you think its wrong, bakit di yun kasali sa articles of impeachment?
impeachment trial pinaguusapan dito brad, hindi appointments. layo mo.
@Nutzi Vincenzo
Trying to be a skillful black propagandist again? The midnight appointee issue is moot and academic. Already a settled issue. Show your evidence that he was lying in his SALN. Better yet, wait for the defense panel to finish presenting evidence. The dollar account cannot be revealed as there is a law on this. He stole from his relatives? Prove it. He has only 5 properties. Ask the prosecution panel. You really are a confused person. I suggest you seek psychiatric help.
Sinagot n ng kmaganak nya n si Sister Flory, npan0od m b ang interview sknya ni Ted Failon? Msmang budhi yang mga Corona lalo na si Cristina n nkasuhan ng estafa
Gunggong ka pala eh, biased na news anchor yang ted failon na yan.
Hearsay lang kasi ang kaya ng makitid mong utak na tanggapin kaya ka naniniwala sa kanya.
Tanga ka talaga
bkt sbi sa survey nsa top senatoriaBles si Ted FailoN? Hnd sya bias, nilalaBas nya lang ang ktotohanan at mrmi naniniwala sknya. At ikw,hnd m mtngGAP.
@Vincenzo:
At hindi mo rin matanggap na BIASED din ang mga survey.
Still, the jokes on you. Haha. 😛
“Nilalabas niya ang katotohanan”
HA HA HA, that’s a big fat lie you dumb f**k.
Hindi mo lang kayang tanggapin na talo ka na!
And you fail for relying on that survey crap.
Ano ngayon kung nasa top senatoriables si Ted Failon? Hindi naman requirement na walang bias ang isang senatoriable ah.
Non sequitur ka gunggong.
Lumang tugtugin na iyan vincenzo.
Is that really all you can say you frickin moron?
As usual, wala kang ebidensya na pinapakita.
Yan lang ba ang alam mong gawin?
Mag post ng katangahan mo gunggong?
Mas tanga ka kasi koNtra ka s pgsugpo ng korupSYoN
Aba napipikon ang totoong tanga. What’s the matter vincenzo? Too butthurt to admit the truth?
Iiyak na yan….
@Nutzi Vincenzo
I will help you counter corruption… I will point to you the direction where to start… The buck ends in Malacanang! We start with 4 issues:
1. Paquito Ochoa and his PHP60Million Mansion!
2. Neil Tupas and his PHP50Million Mansion!
3. LEDAC meals(2 meals) costing PHP860,000!
4. Your uncle’s SALN for 2010 showing a quantum jump of PHP50.5Million!
Go figure… Just the tip of the iceberg. Try to research Mr. Naguiat of PAGCOR.
ang midnight appointee ay ipinababawal 2-3 months before election sa branch ng EXECUTIVE habang sa JUDICIARY ay wala pong ganitong rules.. kaya ang ibig sabihin, naluklok si Corona sa LEGAL na paraan… hay.. Huwag po magaakusa kung hindi naman alam ang buong katotohanan.. salamat
hey vincenzo, read the articles of impeachment before you even comment.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impeachment_of_Renato_Corona
the case in article 2 was FAILED TO DISCLOSE. not lying on the SALN.
magbasa ka, sc mismo nagdecide na ban on appointments by the president is only for the executive branch. e paalis na si puno, sino gusto mo pumalit? ikaw?
ano paki mo kung nagnakaw sya sa kamaganak nya (although, that has never been proven in court, only in the media). gusto mong makihati sa nakuha nya? hindi nga nila mapakitang may nakuhang pera si corona para paboran ang isang kaso e. its all the relatives.
the inside track – husband alan pulling the strings. makes more sense – raissa robles not very bright by all accounts – her husband more ambitious and pompous, and likes to think of himself as part of the intelligensia!
yesterdays people trying to make a pension.
“P-noy: I’m in control.”-Philippine Star headline today. The picture shows him gesturing with a clenched fist. Propaganda and photo ops at its worst.
1. I’m in control and I will stoop to carry more folders and hopefully, sign more documents and attend more meetings.
2. I’m in control and the blackouts will be solved soon depending on my mood. Pardon the delayed reaction as I was distracted by my various relaxing games.
3. I’m in control and will try to avoid my numerous games and distractions.
4. I’m in control and will not allow the militant communist left to exploit my perceived delayed reaction, lack of leadership, foresight and planning. I will counter their noynoying agitation-propaganda by decisive planning and action. I will try to offer solutions on rising prices triggered by the almost daily rise of fuel costs. Can you offer solutions?
5. I’m in control. I was not in full control of the Luneta Hostage Crisis until Carandang said GMA is the one at fault. I smiled as I knew we were in full control of the international incident. I never apologized as I was not at fault.
6. I’m in control and will control my mood swings, temper tantrums and blame games.
7. I’m in control of the highest corridors of power not the communist left that are continuing to infiltrate within the gates.
Name your own.
According to survey conducted by Student Council Alliance of the Phils. (SCAP), Corona is highly distrusted by 5 universities which include his alma mater ADMU, wla nang tiwala ang mga estUdyante ke Corona, dpat palitan na sya
@Nutzi Vincenzo
I have a question… Is SCAP aligned with the militant left? The socialist left is for socialism and is allied with your uncle Mr. BS Aquino. This validates the fact that he allows leftist infiltration into the highest corridors of power. Surveys can be manipulated. We know better.
@Nutzi Vincenzo
SCAP joined the International Union of Socialist Youth-Asia Pacific Committee. We therefore conclude that your uncle BS Aquino is not for democracy per se. He is for socialism and the so-called socialist democrats and could be a closet red. He should answer… Why is he tolerating infiltration of reds into the highest corridors of power?
Leftists wanted to destroy this country. And so you are. 😛
SCAP surveyed a total of 2,010 students from five universities. DLSU (which is among the surveyed) has a student population of about 12,000. 2,010 is not even 20% of the entire population. Assuming that the 2,010 respondents were divided evenly among the five universities, that is 402 respondents per uni. 402 is just 3.35% of 12,000.
Reliable ba yan? Para mong sinurvey isang maliit na subdivision ng Paranaque na karamihan pro-Pnoy tapos sasabihin mo majority ng taga Paranaque pro-Pnoy. Bopols ka.
How did DLSU fare? We’re supposed to be molding critical thinkers, lol.
The five minutes deliberation impeachment of Justice Corona, in Congress is sickening. The bribing of the 188 Congressmen by Noynoy Aquino, showed how desperate the Cojuangco-Aquino families are in holding their ill gotten land of Hacienda Luisita. These people are just plain: liars, deceivers, scammers, and opportunists. They are amoral. They use religion as a political tool; and use people for their ends…
ano nanaman ang koneksion ng hacienda luisita dito sa empeachment …mga tuta kayo ni arroyo at corona ..
You’re just like pnoy: nagbibintang kahit inosente’t wala namang napakatibay na ebidensya para lang sa ikakasaya ng sarili mo. Tits that we are tuta ni arroyo and corona or your nose is getting longer.
And about hacienda luisita, ang hirap kasi sa iyo puro abs-cbn lang ang laman ng utak mo so please watch this your dumb flip:
You are OWNED.
BTW, nagsimula ang pag-file ng impeachment kay Corona AFTER the SC announced the distribution of Hacienda Luisita to the farmers. So may point si Corona sa speech niya na it was a setup in order to stop the SC’s decision. Worse is that the Cojuangcos filed a petition to stop the HLI case.
Kita ko Facebook mo, puro ABS-CBN ang laman. Kaya hwag ka na lang magsalita dahil WALA KANG ALAM.
if it was being a midnight appointee (daw) or pag file ng tro for arroyo (daw) ang rason kung bakit iniimpeach, e bakit palpak ang ebidensya when they said they were “only gathering evidence” kaya ngayon lang nila inimpeach, dec 2011. whereas, nung nagdecide ang sc on hli, e biglang inimpeach nila si corona, a few days after the decision has been passed. coincidence? i guess not. maliwanag na gusto nila palitan ang sc para mabago ang desisyon sa hli, na serreno was in favor of a sdo. or baka di mo rin alam ang sdo, stock distribution option po. cojuangco may ari ng lupa babayaran nila tao nila in terms of stock value. pero hindi sa tao ang lupa.
magbasa ka nelson ng nalalaman mo bago ka humirit.
An elephant named Drilon is already sitting amongst the Senator-Judges, and I think that’s going to throw a wrench in the mistrial idea, unfortunately.
Drilon looks like the Elephant Man LOL.
Looks? He IS an Elephant-Man. The Trial is clearly a circus already.
BenignO
But there was this other, rather oversized slumbering pachyderm noynoying in the room that was already inside, ensconced there at the start when the complaint was drafted and signed, even before the trial was convened, and that, of course, was, alongside the Elephant of Mistrial, the Elephant of Disbarment.
In fact, it was during this time that the term “verified†was expanded to mean the mere slavish act of affixing one’s signature to a document left unread which, of course, is entirely unlike the words the unrequited prefers to leave unsaid.
What is now clear is that the accusers never really intended the manufactured accusations to be tried and decided by the impeachment court, and mistakenly presumed that the accused would resign.
The plan devised was simply to draft a complaint and let the trial commence immediately at the Court of Publicity presided over by ABS-CBN and PDI, ably assisted by aggressive internet-lopers conveniently timed to be set-up, meaning Rappler. For starters, Plan “A‖Trial by Ordeal–was chosen, using the attack mode of relentless character assassination and humiliation, believing that only the truly thick-skinned–like what the accusers were shrink-wrapped tightly in–would choose to endure a trial of such maniacal depravity.
But that didn’t work, even plan “B‖the fishing mode that followed–flopped miserably, unmasking what in legal terms is referred to as: “prosecutorial misconduct.â€
So who are those liable to being charged with disbarment here? Would they be the members of the bar who signed the “verified†impeachment complaint, or should the charge include only the prosecution team who I presume are lawyers? If not, should the charge be whittled down only to lawyers in the prosecution team who repeatedly lied during several press conferences and the trial itself? How about the team of non-member lawyers who assisted the prosecution panel, should they be included too?
Anyway, even if disbarred, a Member of the House Representatives would still be allowed to continue to sit as representative until the 3-year term ends.
Even then, there is this question that has persisted throughout trial that now needs to be resolved: Who is empowered to determine if an Article in an Impeachment Complaint is deemed deceitful or not? Is it the Senate sitting as an Impeachment Court or is it the Supreme Court?
However these issues may be resolved, declaring a mistrial, to my mind, would really save a lot of faces of those tasked to decide.
Just my opinion. The farce of an Impeachment trial (more like telenovela/teleserye/TVdrama/soap opera/comedy show/segment) should be ended or canceled. There is barely any real point or thing happening in it, and half the time listeners and watchers alike can’t really understand what the hell is going on.
Unlike a lot of others before me, I can’t exactly explain or describe why I think all of it is just as I stated above or why I think the whole thing should just be stopped/halted/suspended.
Mi madre is a die hard Aquino fanatic (can’t be helped I guess since our family has friendly relations with the Aquinos and Cojuancos) and my father is a college friend of the big semi-bald man himself, I can’t really win in an argument regarding Noynoy and his zero-action-ness and all that has not been happening.
I say that there has been no real stories or announcement or obvious showing of this latest People Power President, the news hasn’t really shown that this latest elected presidential official has done something worth noting in the positive sense. While my parents and those of like mind to them claim that the president and his administration has done some good, I say that it hasn’t been enough or big enough. This second Aquino administration seems to yet have an obvious positive impact on anything.
Another opinion regarding these event/s is that it is just like the Mall/MRT/LRT Security checks, administration or authorities have to look like they are doing something to resolve whatever problems are being faced or need to be gotten rid of.