Amidst all the technicalities raised by the defense, the ill-preparedness of the prosecutors and

the supposed appearance of partiality by some senator-jurors, the impeachment is a search for the truth
with the ultimate goal of preservation of respect for a position or reaffirmation of respect if it may have
been lessened.
At this point the picture isnt clear yet, but if inference is to be drawn solely on the testimony of
the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, apparently our Chief Justice did not file his Income Tax Return.
At one point, he and his immediate family acquired on an almost cash basis properties worth millions
with income sourced only from compensation. Although the Chief Justice is from a family of no ordinary
means, if his compensation is to get by, he could not afford the list of properties supposedly acquired.
As a member of a noble profession and no less than the Chief Justice, high sense of truthfulness
is expected of him, not only to be honest but to appear honest in all his dealings.
In an interview by a newspaper of general circulation, the CJ once uttered, I am not stupid
referring on the allegation that he failed to declare all his properties in his SALN. Hopefully, the chief
justice is not that stupid not to file his Income Tax Return. It took the power of taxation to defeat an Al
Capone.