It will be fun to watch Tupas and the other House “hot shots” start parading their legal knowledge or lack of it before the Senate. I have seen JPE correct the presentation of supposed “expert resource persons” in committee hearings, so woe to ill-prepared persons at the trial.
The Department of Tourism was probably not thinking of the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona when it coined that slogan about the Philippines’ being more fun to do things in. Nevertheless, it will not detract from the fact that the trial will provide fun and entertainment to Filipinos who are in dire need of diversion amid their economic travails.
I could hardly wait for the opening of the great entertainment at the Senate on Monday, January 16, at 2 p.m. Senators will be wearing judicial robes to show the solemnity of the proceedings but this will not deprive us of the expected fun and entertainment to ensue. I’m sure millions of Filipinos will be glued to their television sets to watch the unfolding of what promises to be the biggest blockbuster of the year, produced by Malacañang. The Executive may deny till they are blue in the face that they have nothing to do with this entertainment production but very few will believe them. After all, they have been speaking off both sides of their mouth on the issue.
The House “hot shots” were having fun presenting to media and the public their supposed evidence against Chief Justice Renato Corona when Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, the inveterate KJ that he is, asked them to keep their trap shut. JPE was later joined by Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano, and Senators Ping Lacson, Gringo Honasan, Pia Cayetano and Koko Pimentel in admonishing the House prosecution team from making public pronouncements about the impeachment trial of CJ Corona.
Rep. Niel Tupas Jr. of Iloilo, chief House prosecutor, immediately denied any wrongdoing. He and other prosecutors maintain that the House is not under the jurisdiction of the Senate sitting as an impeachment court because the trial has not yet started. He also argued that they were not even discussing the merits of the impeachment case. Huh? If he really believes so, then they should hold his ground and continue presenting their “evidence” to media and the public. They have today and tomorrow to show the world that they really know more about legal procedures than JPE. If Tupas and Co. will act as if they are the repository of all legal wisdom in the world, then watch real fireworks in the impeachment trial.
It will be fun to watch Tupas and the other House “hot shots” start parading their legal knowledge or lack of it before the Senate. I have seen JPE correct the presentation of supposed “expert resource persons” in committee hearings, so woe to ill-prepared persons at the trial. JPE might be joined by Senators Miriam Defensor Santiago, Edgardo J. Angara, Joker Arroyo and possibly Franklin Drilon in the intense questioning of the prosecutors and their prosecution witnesses. Some of the senators who are not lawyers might not join the fray but you can bet this will only add more color to the fun.
I don’t know if Tupas has had any experience in court litigation. I know that Rep. RodoIfo Farinas of Ilocos Norte topped the Bar exams. I also know that Deputy Speaker Raul Daza of Northern Samar is an accomplished lawyer. But he and Farinas are among those in the House panel that have remained silent so far. The other members of the House prosecution panel are Deputy Speaker Lorenzo Tañada 3rd of Quezon, Reynaldo Umali of Mindoro Oriental, Elpidio Barzaga Jr. and Joseph Emilio Abaya of Cavite, Neri Colmenares of Bayan Muna party-list, Kaka Bag-ao of Akbayan party-list; and Rep. Giorgidi Aggabao of Isabela province. Assistant Majority Leader Romero Quimbo of Marikina City is the panel spokesman. Quimbo will be assisted by Rep. Sonny Angara of Aurora, the son of Sen. Edgardo J. Angara.
The impeachment court will dispose of some preliminary issues on Monday before proceeding to the trial proper. These issues are whether it can subpoena officers and members of the House, a co-equal body. CJ Corona, who is evidently unconvinced that congressmen are speed readers, has asked the Senate to subpoena the congressmen to determine if they had read the voluminous Articles of Impeachment and their attachments before they signed them.
I covered the Batasan from 1983 to 1998 and I learned that it was easier then to get a voluminous bill signed by congressmen than to have a two-page simple bill approved on the floor. A bill setting up a supposed “One-Stop Shop” was signed by more than 100 congressmen, enough to assure its passage in plenary. Then, during the period of debates, it was shown that the bill would result in the abolition of the National Economic Development Authority. And the congressmen who signed it didn’t even read this provision abolishing the NEDA!
The other issue that should be resolved by the Senate is whether it should defer hearing the impeachment charges because of pending petitions before the Supreme Court seeking such deferment.
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