Glimpses of the Man Behind the Red Robe During Impeachment Trial

Caught the Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile  this morning being interviewed by Karen Davila on Headstart at ANC. And I can’t resist quoting his words:

“I stretched the rules of evidence in favor of the Defense, so they would not complain of  grave abuse of discretion on our part.”

“In the beginning I was trying to give the Chief Justice the benefit of the doubt.”

“I don’t understand why the Defense called the Ombudsman and they could not even qualify if she is a hostile witness.”

“No legal or financial mind can invent the content of the AMLC document.”

“I will not accuse him of lying but they were not ready to bring the quantum of evidence needed to explain Corona’s assets.”

“There was some degree of inconsistency in the totality of Corona’s defense.”

“He was measured and I think he failed.”

“He was appointed at Chief Justice, I would presume he was fit as a lawyer to hold the position.”

“I based my decision on evidence. I studied the Corona case more than the Prosecutors and Defense.”

Oh, and I just love it when he said that he made a listing of the Senators who will vote during the judgment then he pulled out the list  from  his wallet and showed it to Karen Davila. It’s a list of the committed, the uncommitted (his name was included here) and the three names for acquittal. He was right on target, the three names appeared to be Arroyo, Marcos and Santiago.

Nice penmanship Manong.  Let me continue:

“Supreme Court cannot review our decision. The Senate Impeachment Court is outside the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.”

He said further that the president cannot appoint an outsider. They should come from the remaining fourteen members of the Supreme Court. He was asked whose speech he liked the most when the senators explained their votes and he said: “Lito Lapid”. He will support VP Binay for president in 2016 but unsure of who will be his VP, saying that either Escudero or Estrada would be okay. He loves reading and memorizing poems and watching old films on TV.  He’s 88 years old  but his mind is so sharp. Nice job Manong Johnny!

(thanks again ANC for the grabbed pic and to Phil. Inquirer for JPE’s photo)

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Quo Vadis CJ?

Would it be proper now if we just call him plain “Attorney”?

For the past five months, I’ve been so focused on  the impeachment trial  that I forgot the weeds growing in my  garden and they look so ugly interspersed with my blooming and healthy peanut grass.  Judgment has been rendered and the Filipino people are happy that democracy still works in our country.  The telenovela is over, not all are satisfied though with the ending because they are talking about the possibility of  filing a petition for review before the Supreme Court. We’ve heard before the rendering of the verdict that both Prosecution and Defense would abide by the outcome of the voting.  And one election lawyer even said that the verdict was incomplete because Senator Enrile, the  presiding officer of the IC did not read in his closing speech the penalty for an impeached chief justice.  As far as I know, “it shall not go farther than removal from public office and perpetual disqualification from public office”. He won’t be imprisoned but he could kiss public office goodbye.

Had he just resigned from office, he could have saved himself and his family the humiliation and the ordeal of leaving the Supreme Court in shame.  It could  have been a graceful exit and  he could have endeared himself more to the people who still believe that he is innocent . But he chose to stay, holding on to the last minute. In his dramatic walkout from the Impeachment Court last Tuesday, May 22 he said in arrogance, “And now the Chief Justice of the Republic of the Philippines wishes to be excused”. He is now excused forever. Quo vadis CJ?

Let us move on and let us move forward. If there is one positive thing that we learned from all this, at least now, transparency in a public office is a must and I’d like to thank him for initiating the signing of a waiver (unconditionally this time although a bit too late to save him) but at least it triggered something that all government employees from the highest officer of the land down to the lowest  barangay councilor must be compelled to sign a waiver too in case their personal assets would be questioned in the future. If you have nothing to hide, why be afraid?

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