The CJ has been convicted. What happens now?

At the start of this hullabaloo, as far as my understanding goes, it was mentioned that for the president to be able to put reforms in the government, the CJ must be removed.

It was said that he was a midnight appointee of former Philippine President Gloria Arroyo and that his appointment was unconstitutional. But it was decided otherwise. Still, the people cried for blood over this issue. My take–constitutional or not, the incumbent president should not hold the judiciary.

It was mentioned that because the CJ was appointed by FPGMA, his loyalty is with her and thus will favor her in any SC proceedings. They might be right in saying this but the CJ is just one vote. ONE. If the other SC justices are swayed to vote like the CJ, then it is not the problem of the CJ. Those justices, in the first place, must be able to stand their ground.

On ill-gotten wealth, I see no truth to it. What is $2.4? It’s just a little over one hundred million pesos. He wasn’t born poor. His wife wasn’t born poor. He earned a very good living before his public service. Yet again, those who cried for blood cannot and will not accept this truth. For them it’s IMPOSSIBLE for the CJ to have this amount. They refuse to believe anything. It would seem as if a poor man has the right to become rich because he worked hard for it. But a rich man who was born rich has no right to remain rich and any wealth he might possess is ill-gotten. That is how the mind of the mob works.

Truth be told, after both sides presented their case, I knew he was going to get convicted. On the charge that he failed to disclose all of his assets in his SALN–I also found him guilty. For it is true that there is no law stopping any man from declaring his (OWN) dollar accounts. The law simply stops other entities, aside from the depositor himself, in disclosing the said dollar account. On the co-mingling of funds, I would say the CJ was on the right. It wasn’t his, so no need to declare it. But whether the CJ acted on good faith or not, I wouldn’t know. But logic tells me that it was a lapse. The amounts are not huge (my standard of comparison are the senator judges and the members of congress). There was no need to ‘hide’ it. And now, with the waiver, we could actually check how the amount came to be. But that’s another story.

So then, he is guilty. He is guilty for not declaring ALL of his assets in his SALN. But is it an impeachable offense? I think not. We have wasted millions of pesos in convicting a CJ for an offense that is not deemed impeachable. The senators said that the CJ owes it to the Filipino people to fill-out his SALN completely. I am a Filipino and no, the CJ does not owe it to me. Whether or not he completely filled out his SALN is not my concern. What would concern me is this “did he steal from the Filipino people that’s why he chose to ‘hide’ his dollar account?” I believe the answer to this is a big no.

As a Filipino, I do not believe that removing the CJ from office will ensure a better Philippines. But still, I am thankful for this Impeachment Trial. And I am thankful that it is finally over. With the waiver that the CJ signed, he was able to set a fine example for everyone else. I know that the CJ signed the waiver to prove that he did not steal anything. As what the senator judges said to him, ‘if you are not hiding anything, then sign the waiver’. And he did. And now we must have all of our government officials do the same. If they are not hiding anything, then they do not have to be afraid, right? Right… But it is not that simple. Why? Because there is a reason for them to be afraid. Them who? The senator judges and congress. Not all.

And now going back to my question, what happens now?  What happens to my country? Will the economy improve? Will the number of hungry Filipinos decrease substantially? Will the unemployment rate decrease dramatically? Will corruption be eradicated? I don’t think so. But still, I hope so. As much as I hate how PNoy handled this situation; as much as I hate how the prosecutors made a mockery of our system; I would have to say that I remain hopeful. Not because I have hope in PNoy, but because I have some hope left for my countrymen.

BUT! Let me just say this. I just need to rant. If in the end, it is proven that PNoy wanted the CJ impeached for his own personal gain (or his KKK), then I will gladly blame everyone who voted for this SOB. But I hope that does not happen. Because if it does, then it only means that my country has truly gone to the dogs.

*I voted for this GUY