You may be, like me, sick of the lawyerspeak and legal nitpicking happening three times a week at the Senate since the start of this month. The (dis)honorable “judges” – whether with law degrees or not – in their maroon robes can be as exasperating in their questioning as the lawyers on both sides in this impeachment drama. Lawyers live by the letter of the law, sometimes bypassing or even going against the spirit of the law, giving Lady Justice not a blindfold but a magnifying glass, the better to nitpick every typo and spelling error or wrong turn of phrase.
Fortunately I am not assigned to cover the trial and I must admit that, despite being admonished to be vigilant and keep an eye on the judges, the prosecution and the defense teams, I’d really rather spend those hours of my afternoon three days a week reading or even just playing TextTwist.
So much in terms of resources and energy is being spent – wasted? – on this impeachment trial. With four Articles of Impeachment to tackle, we’re in for a long, long ordeal – the estimate is 92 trial days; at three days a week, that’s 30-plus weeks or over seven months, through Christmas and into 2027. Will we survive?
But much as I dislike this exercise, it is a necessary evil. The trial of an impeachable official – the highest in the land, including president, vice president, justices of the Supreme Court, the ombudsman, members of constitutional commissions like the COA, CSC and Comelec – is a matter of accountability. If they are accused of an impeachable offense – culpable violation of the Constitution, treason, bribery, graft and corruption, betrayal of public trust and other high crimes – they must be charged and tried, then either acquitted or convicted. They must be made to face the bar of justice and answer for their wrongdoing, or be cleared.
By virtue of their high office, such officials must be held to a high standard. They are answerable not only to the law, but to the people. That is why we the people must not give up on this impeachment trial; as much of a penance as it might seem to be, we must continue to monitor, be vigilant so that truth and justice will indeed be served, one way or the other. We cannot let this end by default.
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In this country, nobody is ever guilty (just as nobody ever loses an election but is cheated) – and I’m not talking about the innocent-until-proven-guilty doctrine. Even when faced with a mountain of evidence, when charged they all say – aside from “I’m innocent” and “this is politically motivated” – “I will answer the charges in the proper forum,” meaning, see you in court.
Thus we have impeachment trials that take months and court cases that take years.
If these folks are indeed innocent, they should just answer the charges straight off – face their accusers and disprove the charges right away, forthwith, before the public; shut their accusers up with proof and not wait for “the proper forum.” Then we would not have to go through such tortuous legal exercises.
Miss Magnificent
We received with sadness the news of the passing last week of our former colleague Ching Alano. She retired as assistant Lifestyle section editor in 2017, but continued to write, her prose straightforward and insightful.
Ching used to come to the office late in the afternoon from interviews and coverages, and work late, late into the night. She would tell a story or deliver a punchline in a way that drew the reaction, “Haayyy, si Ching talaga!”
Ching on the road was a class of her own, beyond anything the MMDA, LTO or NCAP could regulate. She once hit a makeshift road sign placed in the middle of a narrow two-lane street while driving home at three in the morning (she worked late into the night, remember?) and claimed, with total candor, that a dog – or was it a kid? – ran in front of her, causing her to swerve and hit the sign.
But classic Ching was the time she arrived, quite breathless, at a lunch we were having and explained that she had been pulled over by a traffic enforcer for turning right despite a “No right turn on red” sign. She got off without getting a ticket by telling the enforcer, in all sincerity and with full conviction, “Sorry po, nagmamadali ako kasi birthday ni Doreen at late na ako sa lunch, magagalit siya sa akin…”
Only Ching Alano could have pulled off something like that, and that is why I always called her Miss Magnificent.