Impeachment of Renato Corona

Impeachment of Renato Corona
Supreme Court building, with tarpaulins expressing support for Chief Justice Renato Corona.
Decided	29 May 2012 (2012-05-29)

Renato Corona, the 23rd Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines, was impeached on December 12, 2011. Corona was the third official, after former President Joseph Estrada in 2000 and Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez in March 2011, to be impeached by the House of Representatives.

The Senate, convened as an impeachment court, began the trial on January 16, 2012. This was the second impeachment trial in the history of the Philippines, as Gutierrez had resigned prior to the start of her trial. On May 29, 2012, Corona was found guilty of Article II of the Articles of Impeachment filed against him pertaining to his failure to disclose to the public his statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth.

Chief Justice Reynato Puno was to retire on May 17, 2010, seven days after the presidential election. However, the constitution prohibits then-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo from appointing anyone two months before the presidential election up to the end of her term. This caused a suit to be brought to the Supreme Court, in which the high tribunal ruled on March 17, 2010, that the ban on appointments does not cover the judiciary. The court ruled on the case with finality on April 20, 2010, with nine justices concurring, one dissenting and two dismissing the petition for being premature. Chief Justice Puno and Associate Justices Corona and Antonio Carpio abstained from ruling on the case. The court then ordered the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) to proceed with its nomination process and subsequently submit its shortlist of nominees for the Chief Justice to Arroyo.