Renato Corona, To Resign or Not To Resign?

Renato Corona, To Resign or Not To Resign?

No, he is NOT.

Chief Justice Renato Corona has no plans of resigning despite being lambasted publicly by no less than President Benigno Aquino III during a criminal justice summit on Monday, December 5.

In separate interviews, Supreme Court spokesman and Court Administrator Jose Midas Marquez said Corona has not mentioned anything about resigning his post after the President again raised the issue that he is a midnight appointee of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

"[Resignation] is not something he has mentioned. Hanggang 2018 pa siya," he told ABS-CBN's "Umagang Kay Ganda."

Marquez noted that the SC majority had already voted to uphold the President's power to appoint a chief justice despite a midnight appointments ban in 2010.

What is unfortunate, he said, is that Corona was appointed by an unpopular president such as Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

"It is just unfortunate that the Chief Justice was appointed by someone that many do not like. Now they are attacking him. It's not his fault. Why would he resign? Is it his fault that he passed through the constitutional process? He has been with the court 8 years. Why would he resign?" he asked in a Headstart review.

Marquez said Corona was blindsided by Aquino's comments especially since the forum was organized by the Supreme Court with other stakeholders of the country's judicial system. He said the forum was attended by various magistrates from the Court of Appeals and the Sandiganbayan.

"It was quite disturbing. We went there in good faith. It was a criminal justice summit. We expected coordination and cooperation between and among the coordinators in the justice sector. That was really the intention and the goal of that summit. What are the problems in the criminal justice system? And then here comes this speech directly hitting the SC and the justices..." he said.

In his speech, Aquino questioned several of the recent Supreme Court rulings including striking down the legality of the Truth Commission and the issuance of a stay order on the travel restraint against former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

The President questioned why the SC favored the redistricting of Camarines Sur, despite a constitutional provision that every district should at least have a population of 250,000. The SC decision would later allow Arroyo's son, Dato, to run in the new district for Camarines Sur.

Aquino also warned against public servants who feel indebted to their "patron", alluding to Corona who was appointed chief justice a week before the 2010 election.

Read further from SOURCE.