De los Santos: Tupas, Drilon shame people of Iloilo

Saturday, February 11, 2012

I CANNOT see how Iloilo should be proud of its two sons in Congress. Cong Neil Tupas, the lead prosecutor in Corona’s impeachment trial, has been regaling the media with Corona’s alleged sins, notwithstanding the impeachment courts’ admonition against trying Corona by publicity. In fact, his panel’s revelation about Corona’s alleged stolen wealth is full of holes you will wonder if these holes are a product of incompetent research or just contributory to the objective of trying Corona by publicity.

First, the prosecution went all over town about Corona’s alleged acquisition of 24 prime real estate holdings and condominiums. As it turned out, most of these high value lots are owned by his daughters or sons, his in-laws. Worse, some of these are owned by people unknown to Corona, like that successful practicing lawyer in the United States. As it turned out, Corona owns only five of them.

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Now, are his daughter and son-in-law financially capable of buying these lots in question? Can his in-laws afford to pay for the lots attributed to Corona? Without showing that his daughter, son-in-law and “balae’s” are penniless, Tupas’ desire to mislead the public was that his panel computes these residential lots at current prices, instead of the actual price when these were bought, some as early as 2004 when these acquisitions were priced at more than half lower than their appraised value now.

No wonder Tupaz came up with P200 million.

Drilon’s partiality is worse. Of course, he knows that, as an impeachment judge, he is required to observe the strictest kind of neutrality. But maybe he cannot just hold his servility to Noynoy Aquino in check. Aquino is the power behind Corona’s impeachment.

When the prosecution failed to elicit the information about Corona’s SALN, Drilon came charging like a bull and terrorized the SC clerk of court into coming out with Corona’s SALN. When the terrified clerk of court averred that she is bound by a Supreme Court Resolution barring her publicly from distributing their SALN, Drilon thundered that against the impeachment court’s order and that of the Supreme Court, she better comply with Drilon’s demand, or else…

No wonder the defense is moving for Drilon’s disqualification as an impeachment judge. He is a ranking officer of the Liberal Party, the instigator of Corona’s impeachment. He makes “sipsip” to Aquino and his marching order is probably to skin Corona alive.

I find Drilon’s and Tupas’ roles a pity. They are not only shaming themselves. They have become a shame to the people of Iloilo.
It is obvious that Corona is a marked man. And it is not only because of his alleged affinity with former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

The decisions favorable to Macapagal-Arroyo can stand the minutest scrutiny. The SC cast aside Aquino’s so-called Truth Commission as it obviously targeted Gloria only. It failed to pass the constitutional prohibition against class legislation.

When the SC issued a TRO against Justice Secretary de Lima’s order preventing the former president from getting out of the country for medical reasons, at a time when no criminal charges were pending against her, de Lima flagrantly violated every citizen’s right to travel. Which explains why they have to file these half-baked cases at the wink of an eye.

But more compelling reason for Corona’s removal from the Supreme Court was the tribunals’ decision to distribute Hacienda Luisita to farmer beneficiaries. Aquino’s family had moved heaven and earth for them to retain ownership of the hacienda. The Supreme Court slept on it for decades. It was Corona’s court which finally decided to award the hacienda to the farmers.

Despite Noynoy Aquino’s pledge to comply with the SC ruling, his family has filed a motion for reconsideration in yet another effort to retain its ownership. Such motion is presently pending.

It is not difficult to see that Corona’s impeachment serves as a warning to the high court to reverse its decision in favor of the farmers and perpetuate the ownership of Aquino’s family.

“Reverse, or else” is the clear message of Corona’s impeachment.