By Perfecto T. Raymundo Jr.
Supreme Court (SC) Chief Justice Renato C. Corona on Tuesday personally appeared and testified to defend himself during the 40th day of the impeachment trial against him at the Senate Impeachment Court.
Corona is charged with graft and corruption, culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust by 188 members of the House of Representatives. He was impeached by the House on Dec. 12, 2011.
Corona also allegedly owned 82 dollar accounts spread in five banks, which had transactional balances of from US$ 10 to US$ 12 million from April 2003 to December 2011 as testified into by Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales during her testimony as a defense's "hostile witness" before the Impeachment Court last week.
In his opening statement before the Impeachment Court and the Filipino people, Corona said that he appeared before the Court to explain everything that had been hurled against him.
Corona said that the full force of the government has been exerted against him, adding that, the impeachment trial is not against corruption, but rather, the impeachment trial is "hatred, galit, benggansa laban sa isang tao".
He said that it is now the time to stop this disunity and divisiveness, adding that, "ano ba ang kasalanan ko, wala akong kasalanan, wala akong ginawang katiwalian at ako ay hindi nagnakaw sa gobyerno."
"I will not drag my family in this impeachment trial, if I had committed any wrongdoing," Corona said.
"Malinis po ang aking konsensya. Malinis po ang konsensya ng aking pamilya. Wala kaming ginawang masama o kawalanghayaan," Corona said.
Elaborating on the simple lifestyle of his famly, Corona became emotional.
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