CJ Corona and his PhD

By Arpee Lazaro

While many of us have been joining the bandwagon and proclaiming strong expletives against Chief Justice Corona, some of us just want to know the truth regarding certain issues. I, for one, has been a part of the Internet lynch mob. Armed with twitter accounts, tumblr and Facebook fan pages, I had once picked up my own cyber pitchfork and rallied against personalities and had even written a blog post or two without considering the facts. Most of us are just swept with the huge wave of hate and anxiety because we just love barbecuing the sacred cows. Like the saying goes, they make the best hamburgers and steaks.

The case of CJ Corona and his PhD is no different. There is a huge hunger for blood and the administration is using this to the hilt in eliminating their enemies. Of course, with Corona out of the way, the administration can own the Supreme Court. How different would that be from past administrations who struggled to dig their heels deep into strategic government agencies to further their own political agenda? I’m not saying that the current administration is not guided by the desire for the greater good, as a matter of fact, I believe the Aquino administration is doing a good job. Pnoy deserves his trust rating, but then again, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

In my small capacity as a blogger, I went out of my way to talk to some people in the University of Santo Thomas to get the story straight. I believe in the reputation of UST. In my mediocre mind, it makes no sense to me for UST to bend their own rules and stain their reputation, just to please a man who is not even in the good graces of the present administration. Again in my mediocrity, I do not see how UST will benefit from just handing over a ready-made PhD template to Corona when the University would have more to lose in doing so.
So my source in UST, Prof Fides Carlos, a distinguished member of UST faculty stated without hesitation that CJ Corona worked hard for his PhD. She surmised that the controversy might have come from a classmate who thought that Mr. Corona had been given preferential treatment and concessions due to his position. Naturally, the identity of that classmate was not given to me. However, she was right about one thing; his position. As Chief Justice, Corona had a day job that was important to the country and not just to himself. In major cases that define the future of generations, having the Chief Justice not come to work because he had a paper to do, or a recitation to attend to, delays the dispensation of justice that has been long overdue, as most Supreme Court cases have traveled the distance to warrant the attention of the highest court of the land.

Not that studying is not important. Inversely, a PhD will enhance his abilities and make him better at what he does, thus, the need for concessions regarding schedule and study arrangements. No need for the rest of his classmates to be informed of this as they are expected to understand.

UST has released a statement regarding this matter and that should put an end to the speculation and nitpicking.