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REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINESHOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
House of Representatives ComplexConstitution Hills, Quezon City
IN THE MATTER OF THEIMPEACHMENT OF RENATOC. CORONA AS CHIEFJUSTICE OF THE SUPREMECOURT OF THE PHILIPPINES,REPRESENTATIVES NIEL C.TUPAS JR., JOSEPH EMILIO A.ABAYA, LORENZO R.TANADA III, REYNALDO V.UMALI, ARLENE J. BAG-AO(other complainantscomprising at least one-third (1/3 of the totalMembers of the House ofRepresentatives areindicated below),
Complainants.
x---------------------------------------------------x
VERIFIED COMPLAINT FOR IMPEACHMENT
Undersigned COMPLAINANTS most respectfully file this dulyVerified Complaint for the Impeachment of the Honorable RenatoC. Corona, currently the Chief Justice of the SupremeCourt(hereafter, “Respondent”), upon the grounds of Betrayal of PublicTrust, Culpable Violation of the Constitution, and Graft andCorruption, as follows:
 
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PREFATORY STATEMENT
Never has the position of Chief Justice, or the standing of theSupreme Court, as an institution, been so tainted with theperception of bias and partiality, as it is now: not even in the darkdays of martial law, has the chief magistrate behaved with sucharrogance, impunity, and cynicism. And yet, for the authentic rule oflaw to prevail, the public must have absolute trust and confidencein the justice, probity, integrity, and impartiality, of the members ofthe Supreme Court. To have any justice, much more, a Chief Justice,who does not live up to the expectation of being like Caesar’s wife – beyond reproach-is to fatally impede the ability of our institutions tofunction and dispense true justice to the people.The Constitution provides a process for holding the judiciary toaccount, on the principle that “sovereignty resides in the peopleand all government authority emanates from them”. TheConstitution provides for a mechanism to remove high officials whobetray public trust, commit culpable violations of the Constitution,and graft and corruption.On May 17, 2010, a little over a month and a half before thenew government was to be sworn in, RespondentRenato Coronawas appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to protect, aid,and abet Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in her efforts to escapeaccountability for her acts as President of the Philippines. His
 
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appointment was made in violation of the Constitution and byoverturning long-established ethical and legal principles forbiddingpresidents from making midnight appointments. His assumption ofthe position of Chief Justice was thus made possible by acombination of violating the Constitution, and then finding ways to justify it, whileignoring examples of honourable and ethicalbehavior that should have made it impossible to accept, much lessassume, office under such dubious and dishonorable circumstances.The Supreme Court itself, in
Aytona v. Castillo 
,
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where itdecided to uphold President Diosdado Macapagal in voiding themidnight appointments of his predecessor, Carlos P. Garcia, paidtribute to one of its former chiefs.Pointing out that President ElpidioQuirino offered a midnight appointment to former Chief JusticeManuel Moran: “Being ambassador in Spain and desiring to return tothis Court even as associate justice, Moran was tendered an
ad interim 
appointment thereto by President Quirino, after the latterhad lost the election to President Magsaysay, and before leavingthe Presidency. Said Ambassador declined to qualify being of theopinion that the matter should be left to the incoming newly-elected President.”In tackling President Garcia’s midnight appointments, theSupreme Court observed that democratic respect and official self-restraint should have characterized Garcia’s actions: “When a
1.L-19313, January 19, 1962.
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