On the Aquino government’s drive to impeach Corona

(1) We desire that former Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo be held accountable in the soonest possible time for her grave crimes against the Filipino workers and people. For more than nine years, she violated workers’ and the people’s economic, political and civil rights. For many, it is already a foregone conclusion that she is guilty of plunder, electoral fraud and human rights violations.

(2) Since he became president, however, it is Pres. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III who stood in the way of going after Mrs. Arroyo. After more than 500 days in power, his government failed to file even a single case against Mrs. Arroyo and her cohorts. And the case it did file is the sabotage of the 2007 elections – not even of the 2004 elections, in which Mrs. Arroyo was caught red-handed.

(3) The Aquino government was forced to act against Mrs. Arroyo only when the latter made it clear that she is planning to escape prosecution by going into exile. It was forced to do so only out of fear of the workers’ and people’s reprisal for failing to hold Mrs. Arroyo accountable for her crimes. It also dreaded the prospect of losing a whipping dog whenever it needed to boost its popularity.

(4) Pres. Aquino launched his tirades against the Supreme Court, and Chief Justice Renato Corona in particular, only when the high tribunal ordered that the lands of Hacienda Luisita be distributed to farmer-beneficiaries. While we are skeptical of Pres. Aquino’s desire to go after Mrs. Arroyo, given his government’s record on the issue, we are sure of Pres. Aquino’s goal of keeping Hacienda Luisita in the hands of the Cojuangco-Aquino family.

(5) While the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Hacienda Luisita land dispute leaves much to be desired, it is a victory for the farmers and farmworkers of the hacienda. We see in the Aquino regime’s drive to impeach CJ Corona a harnessing of the resentment of the country’s landlords over a decision that threatens, even if remotely, their self-arrogated “divine right” to own acres and acres of the country’s lands.

(6) We are most critical of the Supreme Court, especially under the leadership of CJ Corona. In many important cases, it acted against the interests of the Filipino workers and people – in particular, in the VAT on toll, Fasap and coco levy cases. We believe, however, that it is essentially a reactionary institution, and no amount of changing of the guards in it will make it beneficial to the workers and people.

(7) In this light, we believe that the Aquino government’s drive to impeach CJ Corona is a move in a struggle among factions of the country’s elite. Corona’s impeachment is no guarantee that the Aquino government will make Mrs. Arroyo accountable for her crimes. The Filipino workers and people may not gain anything – nay, we may lose much – in supporting the Aquino regime’s scheme to takeover the Supreme Court.