Corona Impeachment Trial: Moving Forward

With the conviction of former Chief Justice Renato Corona by the Senate impeachment court, the question arises: "What now?"

Now, it's time for the House and the Senate to take a look at some of the laws that were shown to be problematic in the course of the impeachment trial, notably RA 6426, or the Foreign Currency Deposit Act, and RA 6713, or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials. Hopefully, Congress can amend these laws so that the exploitation of such, not only by Corona but also by numerous public officials, will be limited if not removed. This, of course, is on top of continuing to craft laws that will benefit our country.

Now, it's time for the Supreme Court Justices to be more transparent; apparently, that 1989 resolution making it difficult to impossible in obtaining their statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) is no longer valid. As I write this, my news feed reports that the Supreme Court has decided to release the justices' and judges' 2011 SALN in the spirit of transparency and accountability. Now, if only the legislative and executive branches of government do the same.

Now, it's time for the Aquino government to put its money where its mouth is and get to the work of fulfilling the various promises President Noynoy Aquino made when he was elected. There is a perception that the reason why the President and his merry men went after Corona and his patron, former President and Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was that the Aquino administration had no concrete plans for the nation. Now is the time for the President to prove this perception wrong.

And for the Filipino people? We must remain vigilant, and continue to hold our public officials accountable. We must be more mature in our political decisions. We have to remember that electing officials is a two-way thing; we don't just vote and let our politicians and public officials do whatever they please. Part of being in a democracy is that we have to make our voices heard, so that our officials, both elected and appointed, are aware that they are our servants, not our lords and masters.