Renato Corona

Renato Tereso Antonio Coronado Corona was born on October 15, 1948, at the Lopez Clinic in Santa Ana, Manila. He graduated with gold medal honours from Ateneo de Manila Grade School in 1962 and from Ateneo de Manila High School in 1966. Corona earned his Bachelor of Arts degree, with honours, from Ateneo de Manila University in 1970, where he also served as editor-in-chief of The Guidon, the university student newspaper. He completed his Bachelor of Laws at Ateneo Law School in 1974, placing 25th out of 1,965 candidates in the bar examination with a rating of 84.6 percent. After his law studies, he obtained a Master of Business Administration degree at the Ateneo Professional Schools. In 1981, he was admitted to the Master of Laws program at Harvard Law School, where he specialised in foreign investment policies and the regulation of corporate and financial institutions. He earned his LL.M. degree in 1982. He later obtained his Doctor of Civil Law degree from the University of Santo Tomas, graduating summa cum laude and as class valedictorian. ==Chief Justice==

administered the oath of office to Renato C. Corona as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines at Malacañang Palace on May 17, 2010 of Renato C. Corona in the Supreme Court of the Philippines building. On May 12, 2010, two days after the general election and a month before the end of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's term, Corona was appointed as the 23rd Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines, succeeding Reynato Puno, who had reached the mandatory retirement age. His appointment was criticised by then president-elect Benigno Aquino III, who cited the constitutional prohibition on presidential appointments during the election period. The Supreme Court, however, ruled in March 2010 that the prohibition applied only to appointments in the executive branch. Hacienda Luisita, Inc. v. PARC Hacienda Luisita is a 6,453-hectare sugar estate covering 11 barangays in Tarlac City and the municipalities of La Paz and Concepcion. It was part of the Central Azucarera de Tarlac owned by the Cojuangco family. In 1988, President Corazon Aquino, a member of the Cojuangco family, signed Republic Act No. 6657, the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law, which allowed the distribution of shares of stock in lieu of land. This provision initiated the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) and included a Stock Distribution Option (SDO). The Cojuangco family availed of this provision, with their company Tarlac Development Corporation (TADECO) forming Hacienda Luisita, Inc. (HLI). In 1989, two referendums on the SDO were held. Several farm workers alleged that they were coerced into agreeing to the arrangement. Some 4,915 hectares were converted into shares, with TADECO holding 67 percent and the farm workers on the 1989 master list controlling 33 percent. In 2005, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) recommended the revocation of the SDO. By December of that year, the Presidential Agrarian Reform Council (PARC) issued Resolution No. 2005-32-01, which revoked the SDO plan of TADECO/HLI and placed the lands under compulsory coverage of CARP. On July 5, 2011, the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice Corona, upheld the DAR and PARC rulings, revoking the 1989 SDO in lieu of land distribution under CARP. The Court, however, allowed farm workers to choose between a parcel of farmland or shares of stock. In November 2011, in a unanimous en banc ruling, the Court ordered the distribution of the contested land to the original 6,296 farmer-beneficiaries, pursuant to the PARC's December 2005 resolution. The Court also lifted a temporary restraining order (TRO) that HLI had earlier secured. Doctoral degree On December 22, 2011, investigative journalist Marites Dañguilan Vitug of the online news site Rappler published an article alleging that the University of Santo Tomas (UST) "may have broken its rules" in granting Corona a doctorate in civil law and in conferring honours upon him. The UST Graduate School denied the claim, stating that Corona had completed and passed all the required subjects for the degree. It also questioned the objectivity of the article, citing Vitug's previous disagreements with Corona and the Court. UST further stated that, as an autonomous higher education institution (HEI) under the Commission on Higher Education, it had the authority to set its own academic standards and determine to whom degrees may be conferred. The university added that questions regarding Corona's residency and academic honours were moot because of academic freedom. ==Impeachment==

On December 12, 2011, 188 of the 285 members of the House of Representatives signed an impeachment complaint against Corona. As only one-third of the House membership, or 95 signatures, were required under the 1987 Constitution, the complaint was immediately transmitted to the Senate for trial. In a speech during the blessing of the Justicia Room at the Ateneo Law School, he stated: "This whole sordid affair has all been about politics from beginning to end… It is about Hacienda Luisita: the ₱10 billion compensation which the President's family reportedly wants for the land that was simply lent to them by the government; the need to terrorize and instill a chilling effect on the justices of the Supreme Court to be able to bend their decisions in favour of the Malacañang tenant." In his defence, he argued that he was not required to disclose US$2.4 million in bank deposits, citing the secrecy of foreign currency accounts under the Foreign Currency Deposit Act (Republic Act No. 6426). He also maintained that his peso accounts were commingled funds. Corona further pointed to incidents that, in his view, reflected Aquino's hostility towards him. In December 2011, Aquino publicly criticised him and the Court during the First National Criminal Justice Summit organised by the Department of Justice. The Supreme Court later issued a statement describing the remarks as "disturbing," noting that while disagreements between the executive and judiciary were not unusual, it was uncommon for the President to openly denounce the Court's independence in public and directly to its members. On May 29, 2012, the Senate, sitting as an impeachment court, found Corona guilty of Article II of the articles of impeachment for failing to disclose his statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALN) as required by the Constitution. Twenty senators voted to convict, three voted to acquit. A two-thirds majority, or 16 votes, was required for conviction. Corona responded by saying that "ugly politics prevailed" but that his "conscience is clear." He thus became the first high-ranking Philippine official to be removed from office through impeachment. Allegations of incentives and appeals to convict On September 25, 2013, Senator Jinggoy Estrada, who had voted to convict, delivered a privilege speech claiming that ₱50 million had been released to each senator who voted for Corona's conviction. He later clarified that the amount was not a bribe but an "incentive" or "appeal." Several senators allied with Aquino confirmed that funds had been released, but denied any connection to the impeachment trial. On January 20, 2014, Senator Bong Revilla alleged that Aquino and his allies had personally asked him to convict Corona. Revilla said that he was fetched by then Transportation Secretary Mar Roxas, a close ally of Aquino, and brought to Aquino's residence, where the President appealed for his vote. The President's spokesperson confirmed that Aquino had met with Revilla and other senators but denied that he instructed them to convict Corona. Malacañang declined to comment on the propriety of the meetings between the President and senator-judges. ==After the Supreme Court==

In June 2016, the Sandiganbayan Third Division dismissed the pending criminal cases against Corona following his death. On November 3, 2022, the Sandiganbayan dismissed the last case against Corona, his heirs, trustees, assignees, transferees, and successors-in-interest, ruling that they were able to "adequately prove that their income could enable them to acquire the questioned assets." The court noted that "it remained undisputed that respondents both came from families of very comfortable means and that even before his appointment to the Supreme Court, CJ Corona had financial capabilities to shoulder huge expenses and had lived a very contented life with his family." It further stated that Corona was a successful lawyer whose "engagement with the private sectors appeared to have been lucrative as shown by the positions he held in the private banking and tax consulting institutions, as well as his position as Professor of Law at the Ateneo de Manila University School of Law." The Sandiganbayan also observed that the prosecution's computations merely added Corona's earned income without considering his money market placements and substantial interest income accumulated over a ten-year period. The decision concluded: "For the future's worth, as stressed by the Supreme Court in In Re: Ma. Cristina Roco Corona, the SALN is a tool for public transparency and never a weapon for political vendetta." On January 30, 2023, the Sandiganbayan ruling was declared final and executory. ==Personal life and death==

Corona was married to Cristina Basa Roco. They had three children and six grandchildren. He had also been suffering from kidney disease and diabetes. ==Notable opinions==

• ''Islamic Da'Wah Council v. Office of the Executive Secretary (2003)'' — on the authority of the national government to act as the exclusive body to issue halal certifications. • Republic v. Sandiganbayan (2003) — on the forfeiture of the Swiss assets of the Marcos family. • Francisco v. House of Rep. (2003) - Separate Opinion — on the impeachment resolution against Chief Justice Hilario Davide, Jr.. • Uy v. PHELA Trading (2005) — on the constitutional right to counsel. • Taruc v. De la Cruz (2005) — on court jurisdiction over challenges to religious excommunication. • Neypes v. Court of Appeals (2005) — on the period for appeal from trial court decisions. • Lambino v. COMELEC (2006) - Dissenting Opinion — on the use of People's Initiative as a mode to amend the Constitution. ==References==