The Editor BUSINESS WORLD
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Dear Editor,
My compliments to columnist Ms Teresa Abesamis on your March 20’s page 5 "Truth or Evidence." She points out the "decision of the Senate impeachment court will set the ethical standards for the Chief Justice of the Court of Last Resort." That Court presides over the entire judiciary, the government arm empowered to make the final verdicts over life, liberty and belongings of the Filipino people. The decision will most certainly influence how business will be done in this country – through the buying and/or delaying of court cases on life, liberty and property or in ensuring that cases are decided firmly with fairness and despatch.
I address this letter to your readers who like me are in the business of our business, but should not limit themselves to it, and must think beyond its narrow confines.
Mr. Corona so lusted to be Chief Justice as to prevail on his colleagues to decide that the Constitutional provision should not be applied to appointments to the Supreme Court. Was not that self serving decision prohibited, if not by law, then certainly by decency and morality, for Court members to decree that a Constitutional prohibition does not apply to them?
A day before the resumption of the impeachment trial against Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona, we gather as Filipinos to individually and collectively reflect on the fundamental issues brought before the Honorable Senator Judges of the impeachment court and the public. As religious leaders, professionals, students, business groups, civil society organizations, social movements and concerned citizens, we have given our collective backing to the impeachment process, recognizing impeachment as a legitimate means to exact accountability from our government officials, ensure transparency of our leaders in a democracy, and to provide Chief Justice Corona the opportunity to explain himself in the proper forum.
MANILA, Philippines - Many things have been written on how the assets of Chief Justice Renato Corona increased by P8 million, or by 53% over a span of 9 years, from P14.9 million in 2002 to P22.9 million in 2010.
While there have also been various analyses on the specific assets – whether they were reported on zonal value or “fair market value” as required by law, or whether they were reported on the year acquired or not – the SALNs can also be analyzed on a pure financial basis.
Summary figures based on the SALNs (In million pesos)
FSGO Reflection on Week 1 of the Corona Impeachment Trial
Saturday, 21 January 2012 13:28
The Former Senior Government Officials (FSGO) are Filipinos who served as senior officials at Cabinet and sub-Cabinet levels of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines under six presidential administrations over the past 40 years.
Believing that public office is a public trust, we hold sacred the principle of good governance. For public institutions to have good governance, their leaders must be of unquestioned integrity.
FSGO will be monitoring the impeachment trial and will issue regular reflections based on the following framework:
1)FSGO rejects the assumption that the impeachment of CJ Renato Corona is an attack on the Supreme Court as an institution.
2)FSGO believes that the impeachment and conviction of CJ Renato Corona are necessary to redeem and strengthen the Supreme Court.
3)FSGO asserts that CJ Renato Corona must be convicted because of a pattern of action that demonstrates a betrayal of public trust.
Reflection for the week:
We should not let the lawyers’ argumentation and legal technicalities blind us to the moral essence of why CJ Corona is being impeached. We agree with the opening statement for the prosecution, Rep. Tupas: “We are not here to indict the Supreme Court as an institution, or to do battle with the judicial branch of government. We are here to search for the truth so as to restore the strength and independence of the judiciary.”
Sen. Ting Paterno, FSGO member, talks about CJ Corona's close ties with GMA.
FSGO for Good Governance: The Corona Impeachment Trial
Saturday, 14 January 2012 13:16
The Former Senior Government Officials (FSGO) are Filipinos who served as senior officials at Cabinet and sub-Cabinet levels of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines under six presidential administrations over the past 40 years.
Believing that public office is a public trust, we hold sacred the principle of good governance. For public institutions to have good governance, their leaders must be of unquestioned integrity.
FSGO will be monitoring the impeachment trial and will issue regular reflections based on the following framework:
FSGO rejects the assumption that the impeachment of CJ Renato Corona is an attack on the Supreme Court as an institution.
FSGO believes that the impeachment and conviction of CJ Renato Corona are necessary to redeem and strengthen the Supreme Court.
FSGO asserts that CJ Renato Corona must be convicted because of a pattern of action that demonstrates a betrayal of public trust.
Reflection for today:
CJ Renato Corona must go on leave so as not to further undermine the credibility of the Supreme Court.
From its founding, FSGO has been critical of the Gloria Arroyo regime. In deference to President Aquino’s admonition to "treat her with respect," we will not comment for now on her antics at NAIA Terminal 1 on the evening of November 15.
We are thankful that the Executive Branch has acted according to its sworn duty as one of the three co-equal branches of government.
We regret the evident partisanship in the Supreme Court's November 15 en banc decision on the TRO. The eight votes in favor were all appointees in Arroyo's second term. Of the five in contra, only Justice Jose Mendoza was appointed in that Arroyo term.
Public servants must be reminded that no one is divinely appointed. The same holds true with the Court and its members. Furthermore, the Supreme Court, as with other lower courts, is expected to be a servant, not the master, of the people and certainly not beholden to the appointing power.
The present Supreme Court as a body has been obviously partisan for Mrs. Arroyo. The Court has to gain its moral ascendancy and earn real authority for itself. We respectfully remind the Justices that exercise of their granted authority will be vitiated if and when they lose the real respect of their constituency. For any Supreme Court, that constituency is no less than the citizenry of our Republic.
We call on the Justices not to further undermine the credibility of the Supreme Court as an institution.
Nation Demands GMA Face Due Process of Our Law for the Accusations Against Her
In this current public debate whether GMA should be allowed to travel abroad for now clearly established non-medical reasons, it is important to recognize that the people have a long and unsatisfied demand for justice for the many accusations against GMA that has made her the most unpopular President in recent history. Now that the justice system is grinding to render due process of trial and judgement for these accusations against GMA, there is an attempt to seek permission from that justice system to allow her to travel abroad and, in the view of many, eventually escape the long arm of Philippine law.
What the people know: GMA was accused of cheating her way to being elected over FPJ. What happened: Because of political influence and corruption, this accusation still has not been proven in the electoral justice system.
What the people know: GMA was accused of plunder and other high crimes while in office. What happened: GMA avoided impeachment throughout her term by political maneuvering and buying many of the congressmen.
What the people know: GMA is now facing accusations in our justice system for electoral fraud, for plunder, and other high crimes --accusations which she escaped while in power. What happened: The truth has been hidden and continues to be thwarted by a compromised justice system the composition of which GMA unduly influenced over the course of nine years of appointments to the judiciary.
GMA is now asking the justice system -- the very same justice system that she maneuvered to influence -- to allow her to escape by travelling abroad beyond the reach of our law enforcement. The justice system must not allow GMA to escape. The justice systme must not allow GMA to avoid judgement for the accusations of electoral fraud and bad governance. The justice system must satisfy the people's demand for the truth, serve the people's interest in justice served, and put the the people's welfare first by seeking accountability for the crimes of which GMA is accused.
Let Us Now Walk the Daang Matuwid!
Public officials, particularly those occupying positions of great responsibility, must today exercise their initiative to restore our people's confidence that indeed every public office is a public trust. For too long now, many high public officials have treated rumors and even open reports about their alleged improprieties with cavalier neglect. When these reports persist, many officials under increased scrutiny merely issue uninformative blanket denials through spokespersons and often stonewall all further inquiries with a dedma stance suggesting that only legal processes will pry an explanation from them. While indeed public officials who are subjects of alleged improprieties should be regarded as innocent until proven otherwise, it must also be asserted that public officials whose reputations are tainted by suspicions must be objects of doubt until such suspicions are duly and fully clarified.
Unresolved public doubts about the integrity of heads of government offices erode the morale of their fellow civil servants and weaken our citizens' respect for government, both of which are essential for effective governance. Whenever suspicions concerning integrity of high public officials arise, prompt, detailed and forthcoming explanations from the officials concerned are critical to clearing the air and reaching our people while they remain willing and open to such explanations.
25 Years of People Power from EDSA Revolution to Daang Matuwid: Lessons in Democratic Life for Our Nation's Future
Thursday, 24 February 2011 13:49
We, former senior government officials, join our people in celebrating the silver anniversary of the victory of our democratic revolution.
The Filipino people can rightfully be proud that they took the path of people power revolution, a path taken since by many other nations from Eastern Europe to the Middle East, including the latest from Tunisia and Egypt.
Our own people power revolution banished a dictator, defeated takeover attempts by various military factions, ratified a Constitution that guarantee our rights, rebuilt the institutions essential for our democratic governance, gave power and resources to our local governments, and liberated our media, our economy and our society from the many oppressions of authoritarian rule. Many of our countrymen celebrate just surviving another day; surely our people must celebrate making so much history in the first 25 years of our democracy.
We celebrate our achievements but we must be mindful of the monumental tasks that remain. Thus far, our people power revolution has failed to end corruption at the highest levels of our government, failed to lift millions of our fellow Filipinos from poverty, and failed to bring enduring peace to our countryside, particularly in Mindanao. Our democracy is now a 25-year old young adult. It must rise from the exuberance of the EDSA revolution and embrace the discipline of daang matuwid. It has so much yet to learn and do.
What Have We Learned?
1. Our people like to choose their leaders. They often choose wisely. Sometimes they choose liars, cheats, and thieves but bad leaders do not fool all the people all the time. We must never again compromise the integrity of our elections being the only way for our people to choose their leaders.
The Death of Gen. Angelo Reyes and the Meaning of Public Office is a Public Trust
Friday, 11 February 2011 15:30
Unlike other cultures, our Filipino culture does not accord suicides by public figures one clear and definitive meaning. Thus the message of a Filipino dying in public by his own hand often ends up being contested, improvised and twisted by various interested parties. And so it is with the tragic death of General Angelo Reyes. Did he put a bullet through his heart in an ultimate admission of personal responsibility for whatever wrong he had committed? Or was his willful termination of his own life a sublime act of protest to assert his innocence against unfair yet unremitting persecution?
