The Impeachment of Chief Justice Renato Corona

Impeachment Complaint against Chief Justice Renato C. Corona (full text at Chan Robles Law Library)

The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines, Renato Corona, was impeached by the House of Representatives as authorized by the 1987 Philippine Constitution when 188 Members signed the above Impeachment Complaint against him last December 12, 2011. His trial in the Philippine Senate will commence tomorrow, Monday, January 16, 2012.

Here is a helpful Primer on this historic document and event from Spacelab Infographics.

The Rules of Impeachment in the Philippine Senate were duly adopted last year in preparation for the trial of Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, but she resigned before the trial could begin. A Primer on the Rules has also been released by the Senate.

A flattering short biography or curriculum vitae of the impeached and accused Chief Justice has been published by Ed Malay on Facebook: Renato Corona: A Life of Grit and Determination.

The trial that begins tomorrow is only the third impeachment (including those of President Joseph Estrada in November, 2000 and Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez in 2010) against a so-called "Constitutional Officer" of the Republic of the Philippines since 1987, of which there are 31: President, Vice President, Ombudsman, 15 Supreme Court Justices, 7 Commission on Election members, 3 of the Civil Service Commission and 3 from the Commission on Audit.

Here is the full text of the the 1987 Philippine Constitution (also at Chan Robles Law).


ABSCBN News has a fairly comprehensive Summary of the Corona Trial  including the Answer of the accused Chief Justice to the Impeachment Complaint and the answers to the Answer from the House Prosecutors.