Did Corona say ‘I am no crook’?

SUPREME Court Chief Justice Renato Corona didn't say he's no crook, as then US president Richard Nixon did in 1971.

Same thing though, just different words. Corona said "I'm no thief, I'm no criminal."

In his opening statement at impeachment trial Tuesday, before session was briefly suspended, he said he hadn't stolen money, or words that tugged the heart, pushing him to brink of tears.

Corona sent the protest of innocence well, with the sad mien and the near-sobbing, unlike Nixon whose body language contradicted a declaration of "I'm no crook."

The CJ could've pulled it off, despite the oppressively long and boringly flat speech.

He succeeded in using the trial as podium for venting his sadness over his plight and outrage at his tormentors. Audience and court with prosecution protested over the exploitation but yielded. After all, for five months now, he has been publicly
thrashed.

Corona's mistake was exiting the way he did. Struck by illness or not, he should've waited for the court's leave. Surely, as a jurist himself, he must know: nothing offends judges more than disrespect, intentional or not.

Imperious as the judge sounds, courts demand ritual courtesy, along with shutting of cell-phones, absolute silence in court, and non-tardiness (of everyone else but the judge).

The waiver

Corona botched it when he left without the excuse given. And this: for waiving secrecy to bank accounts, the condition that 188 House complainants and one anti-Corona senator make the same waiver.

(paseares@sunstar.com.ph or @gmail.com)