He also denied owning all of the 45 titled properties that the prosecution team claims to be his, saying he only owns five while the rest are of relatives and others who are not related to him.

“Ako raw ay hadlang. Tama. Malaki akong hadlang sa mga nagnanais na hindi matuloy ang pamamahagi ng lupain sa mga magsasaka sa Hacienda Luisita [I was said to be a hindrance. That’s correct. I am a hindrance to those who do not like to distribute to farmers Hacienda Luisita],” Mr. Corona told hundreds of court employee hours before the impeachment trial started at the Senate.

The stock option scheme in the sugar estate in Tarlac province owned by the family of President Benigno S. C. Aquino III has been declared as unconstitutional by the high court, which ordered that the landholding be parcelled out to the farmers.

“Malaki rin akong hadlang sa isang nagmamadaling maging bise-presidente pero talo noong 2010 [I am also a major hindrance to someone who is in a hurry to become vice-president but lost in 2010],” Mr. Corona further said.

Then vice-presidential bet Manuel “Mar” A. Roxas II, the running mate of Mr. Aquino, lost to Vice-President Jejomar C. Binay in the 2010 general polls. Mr. Roxas has since been appointed Transportation secretary.

“At huwag na tayong lumayo. Malaki din akong hadlang sa isang matagal nang nag-aambisyong maging chief justice [And let us not go too far. I am also a major hindrance to someone who has ambitions to become chief justice,” he said.

Senior Associate Justice Antonio T. Carpio was in the running to become chief justice but he turned down a nomination to the Judicial and Bar Council during the previous administration.

“Sila pong tatlo ang nagsasabwatan upang ako’y mapatalsik sa pwesto [These three individuals are conniving to oust me from office],” Mr. Corona said, adding that “higit sa lahat, malaki akong hadlang sa pagtatag ng isang diktatura [most of all, I am a major hindrance to the establishment of a dictatorship].”

Mr. Corona also denied having to do anything with the reported anomaly in the Judicial Reform Support Project, which was funded by the World Bank with a loan worth $21.9 million.

“What they did not tell the public is that this happened before I became chief justice... This program was started more than a decade ago. I have been chief justice for only one and a half years,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Palace was quick to rebut Mr. Corona’s strongly worded speech. “For the Chief Justice to allege conspiracy is simply a desperate ploy to deflect attention from the subject at hand: himself,” the Palace’s statement read.

Malacañang stated that the Chief Justice’s “conspiracy theory ignores reality and plain facts.”

“The Department of Agrarian Reform has categorically stated that the administration has pushed for, and argued, before the Supreme Court (SC), the distribution of land to tenants in Hacienda Luisita,” the statement said.

It further stated that the allegations “concerning the President’s running mate and an associate justice of the Supreme Court... are slanderous attacks....”

The Department of Agrarian Reform and the Office of the Solicitor General, on the other hand, reacted to Mr. Corona’s reported statement in which the Chief Justice said that the administration campaigned for his impeachment due to the SC’s decision ordering the complete distribution of Hacienda Luisita.

“We strongly disagree with these insinuations. The actions of the President and the Aquino administration in relation to the Hacienda Luisita issue from the time it assumed office has shown the government’s unwavering intent that the Hacienda be distributed to its farmer-worker-beneficiaries pursuant to the law,” read the joint statement of Solicitor General Jose Anselmo I. Cadiz and Agrarian Reform Secretary Virgilio R. de los Reyes. 

Source: Business World Online