Things that a lay person like me learned from the trial of The Chief Justice:
1. GOD IS OMNIPRESENT.
Yes, anywhere, even in opposing camps.
” In the name of God, go! “
– Rep. Niel C. Tupas Jr.’s parting lines in his opening statement for the prosecution.
“ I was hoping with all my heart that God would strike me dead! ”
– Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago in her speech regarding her decision.
2. IMPEACHMENTS CORRELATE WITH FOOD AND DRINK.
Peach may somehow have something to do with this.
( or yellow.)
Was it not that during Pres. Estrada’s impeachment trial, Estelito Mendoza’s question,
” Nuong kinain mo yung ice tea……”
was answered by Emma Lim with something like
” Hindi po your honor , ininum ko po.”
So therefore Senator Recto’s ” half-cooked ” and ” well done ” were of course not about the Batangas Beef.
While Greenwich, Shakey’s, Pizza Hut and even Parokya ni Edgar fall short of the very much twi’rer-trending Kapampangan PICHA PIE .
Nothing to be surprised with, for we certainly do have a ” cheese ” for a Senator-Judge.
3. LUCK COMES IN THREE.
*Three action stars:
Senators Lito Lapid, Jinggoy Estrada and Bong Revilla.
*Three PMAers:
Senators Honasan, Trillanes and Lacson.
And of course,
*Three voted for acquittal:
Senators Joker Arroyo, Miriam Santiago and Bongbong Marcos.
( And yes , for their courage, they do get my highest respect more than I have for the Chief Justice right after he tried to do a creative exit from the stand just before cross.)
4. JOKE TIME.
With no intent to disrespect, despite age, intellect and wisdom, it just is not a great time now, to own this one particular senator’s name,
” Joker na nga, Arroyo pa talaga.”
5. CROWNING GLORY.
literally in Filipino, translates to ” CORONAng GLORIA “. And that most definitely did not spell acquittal.
6. CJ.
Renato is the Chief Justice’s first name,
Never CJ.
( Till now of course, when it could mean ” Convicted Justice “.)
7. YES, THERE JUST HAD TO BE A HAG WITH BALLS.
Miriam Santiago had to be nowhere else, but there, whether the beleaguered Rep. Niel Tupas,
” did NOT like it, or NOT .”
8. MIRIAM, THE DEFENSOR.
Had the prosecution looked up the meanings of her name, they might have not gone unprepared. ( and well, they were not just believers of homework.)
Miriam: Old testament. Was the Sister of Moses.
Miriam: Biblical Name Meaning Rebellious .
Miriam: Mistress of the Sea.
Miriam: Bitter. female. Hebrew.
And the latest,
Miriam: Senator, Philippines. Worst Nightmare.
9. NIL TUPA.
So it most definitely also was not a good time to be named Niel Tupas especially if you come to trial “unprepared”, while having to face a ” Defensor ” , named Miriam.
He was reduced to”\ a mere,
” Nil ” ( nothingness ) and
” maamong Tupa or
” Nil Tupa “
especially when The Lady Senator had to bring The Congressman in his U.P. Days and reminded him of what he learned in law school.
( ” Oh well, that is badgering the witness madame! Er, actually, badgering the prosecution on the topic of HOSTILE WITNESSES “.)
10. JUSTICE SECRETARY , CHIEF JUSTICE.
The statement heard during one session,
” Your Honor , no vacancy YET, in the position of Chief Justice.”
Just right after Sen. J. Ponce Enrile erroneously addressed Secretary Leila de Lima as such, during her appearance in the senate, may be prophetic now, given the present turn of events. (?)
11. SMALL LADY
Since Oriental Mindoro Representative Reynaldo Umali did not say that the small lady who handed him the envelope containing information regarding The Chief Justice’s bank accounts, had neck braces on, I most certainly did not assume that it was a betrayal of sorts.
Till of course one crazy thought came to me, weeks later when Nora Aunor was said to be nominated for National Artist and brought me to asking,
” Was that dimunitive person who purportedly handed the envelope to Rep. Umali , a lady or a Guy? “
12. AGE DOES MATTER
” Brilliance does come with age ” while ” Still water runs deep. “
For I admire both J. Enrile and S. Cuevas who at 88 and 83, respectively, consistently kept their calm but resolute demeanor throughout the whole proceedings.
13. THE REPUBLIC ACT-ion star.
” It is the fool who benefits THE MOST in a conversation between a wise man and a fool.”
For now, Sen. Lito Lapid surely sound like he must have learned a lot from those around him than well, ( let’s face it )
them from him.
And of course after that simple speech, whether it sounded straight from a movie script, it made sense, I learned a thing or two.
I admired the candor he projected during the speech, republic act and all.
14. BEAUTY AND BRAINS DO COME TOGETHER.
For Karen Jimeno leaves me in awe just as Shamcey Supsup is stunning.
15. SOMETHING’S GOTTA GIVE.
For sadly, the Senators, Pimentel and Escudero’s sacrifices for the senate, took a toll on their married lives. ( for they both lost their beautiful wives to another.)
16. COURT-ship
Darn, if the Chief Justice was courting and eyeing for the senators’ votes, he could have at least pursued them like an ardent suitor.
And not appear like a proud man on the stand, rudely declaring that he is The Chief Justice.
And obviously, keeping up with the pretense of wanting to be excused, while avoiding accountability in the guise of a medical condition.
I once saw a U.P. College of Law shirt that said something like,
” Ang tanging pangarap ko sa buhay ay maging Supreme Court Chief Justice.”
Well, if Chief Justices do have undeclared foreign deposits of $2.4-million, then one could surmise where that ” tanging pangarap ” may have been based upon.
For a supposedly starving country, with poverty written all over, crowded classrooms, poor health laws and high crime rate,
my land most definitely do not have any right, to have a chief justice having that scandalously huge amount of money.
And as Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas placed it in his speech,
“He (Corona) wants us to believe that when he was in grade four in 1959, he was such a visionary that he already started buying dollars. The exchange rate in 1969, when Renato Corona was in fourth year college, was P3.90 to the US dollar.
Maliwanag po na palusot at pagsisinungaling sa Senado at sa buong mundo. (It is clear that these were excuses and lies made before the Senate and the entire world),”
” It is very clear that he abused and bended the laws to hide his money, the sources of which are highly questionable,”
But then again , as Senator Juan Ponce Enrile said,
” I wish to reiterate, for the record, that the Chief Justice does not stand accused of having amassed any ill-gotten wealth before this Impeachment Court.”
And it is sad of course but I do agree with Senator Bong Bong Marcos when he said that,
” We must be very, very careful and very, very fair in making this decision because what we do today will reverberate throughout our social and political history affecting generations beyond ours.”
The guilty decision of the majority, given to ” A or The Chief Justice ” by the senators will forever be a first in the books. And how many would follow, we do not know.
But as many political analysts would say, the prosecution did not win the case.
They in fact, actually almost lost it in Day 2.
( One disastrous day for their presentation of evidences, which included unauthenticated documents.)
So, I therefore do thank Senator Miriam Santiago, for no matter how deranged she appeared to many, she tried her very best to prevent the prosecution from making a mockery out of the Senate proceedings.
And she had provided knowledge to clueless people like me.
The defense lawyers I must say, have placed everyone in the prosecution panel to shame.
They placed dignity in the word ” lawyer ” , while reducing the word “congressmen” or ” lawmakers ” to ” lie-makers.” (like it wasn’t already .)
Whether we like it or not, the prosecution did not win the case.
If The Chief Justice, did not, ( to loosely borrow a word from the dragon senator) turn into a HOSTILE WITNESS to himself, the prosecution would until now, still be categorized as mere lap dogs, hurriedly presenting pieces of evidence for an HACIENDERO,
other than representatives having earned the redeemer status, presently accorded to them by some.
And may all these elected officials stand up to the challenge of being honest and transparent ALWAYS in their SAL-Ns.
Yes, these are how things looked down here to an ordinary and untrained person like me, with no legal background whatsoever.
