Corona lost the trial

Former Chief Justice Renato Corona, virtually railroaded himself to the guilty chair in the Senate’s impeachment trial that ended Tuesday.

It was his own admission of his failure to report his vast fortune that pushed the verdict.

Despite misgivings by some of malpractice, still we must doff our hats off to the senator-judges for their handling for the trial.

My salute to Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile who steered brilliantly the court, erasing whatsoever most of us may have had about his past role as implementer of the Martial Law.

Yes, if there was somebody who had managed to convince the public that Corona had been given fair play, it was Enrile with his masterful handling of the delicate legal pitfalls during the entire process.

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Now that the trial has been completed. I hope that the nation will now focus on more important matters confronting the country. Let’s forget Corona and whatever he represented.

But if there is anything that is worth studying, it is the importance of the SALN and its meaning. We expect that there will henceforth so more public officials facing cases in court for their failure in reporting their fortunes.

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I should have commented on the breakthrough by the San Carlos Bioenergy Inc. on the use of sweet sorghum into ethanol.

Frankly, I had my attention focused for a long time on the research into sweet sorghum as raw material for ethanol production. Dr. Leon Arceo was the first to have reported the possible value of the plant as an ethanol source.

Initially, of course, there were some problems involved. Especially in the variety of the plant they were using.

Later however, the UP Los Baños group took over the project and came up with the result.

The shift to sweet sorghum frees sugarcane farming from the classic dilemma of making a decision between the price of sugarcane and sweet sorghum in the manufacture of ethanol.

This tug-of-war once almost led to the closure of the San Carlos Bioenergy Inc. when Jose Zabaleta temporarily shifted to sugarcane manufacture from eghtanol when sugar became a more profitable venture.

In short, today, is possible for sweet sorghum and sugarcane to be planted side-by-side with no fear of a choice between the two plants due to costs.

The initial beneficiary of this development is Sagay City where something like 50 hectares of sweet sorghum are planted. Sooner or later, thousands of sorghum will be planted in areas that are not conducive to sugarcane farming.

A boon to the province, definitely.

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To a certain degree, the contest between Dino Yulo and Bebot Mirasol for the fifth district congressional seat has become more interesting for many. The PR savvy Dino has seemed to have taken over the fighting, his pronouncements landing him in the front pages of newspapers and in primetime radio.

But the low-key campaign by Mirasol seems to have suddenly roused the interest of many. It seems to have shown its effectiveness; the cadre of effective campaigners who seem to have combed almost all corners of the district.

In short, it is not who occupies the front pages of newspapers and the air waves who is going to win the fight. But who is the favorite of the voters.

That’s why Gov. Alfredo Marañon Jr. recently said that the situation seems to favor Mirasol who is being backed by the Liberal Party and the United Negros Alliance.

The results of the fight will be known next week. And the betting seems to have shifted in favor of Mirasol.*

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