When the judge acts as defense counsel

You should either be blind and deaf or be a rabid fanatical supporter of the vice president if you have not seen the obvious metamorphosis of at the very least three among the remaining eight minority senators, from being senator-judges to virtual defense lawyers. The other is the famous constitutionalist who was the erstwhile chair of the Senate Committee on Constitutional amendments

Although the Code of Judicial Conduct only operates in a supplementary way to the Senate Rules on Impeachment, I submit that the principle is the same. Independence is a sine-qua non to the rule of law and a senator-judge should behave in a manner that shall uphold the dignity, independence, and integrity of the Senate impeachment court.

Although they are all politicians, whenever they wear those judicial robes, they should remain faithful to their oaths to render justice with utmost objectivity and free from partisan biases and without fear or favor. There are two siblings who, aside from condescendingly lecturing to their peers on what they leaned from Ateneo and UP, are obviously giving aid and comfort to the defense.

Canon I, Section 1 of the Code of Judicial Conduct postulates that judges shall exercise their function independently on the basis of their assessment of the facts and in accordance with a conscientious understanding of the law, free of any extraneous influence, inducement, pressure, threat or interference, direct or indirect, from any quarter or for any reason. Whatever Law schools they graduated from, this fundamental dictum is being instilled in the minds of all students who are future lawyers and future judges. Section 2 provides that in performing judicial duties, judges shall be independent from judicial colleagues in respect of decisions which the judge is obliged to make independently.

Section 3 also mandates that judges shall refrain from influencing in any manner the outcome of litigation or dispute pending before another court or administrative agency. Section 4 is more compelling: Judges shall not allow family, social, or other relationships to influence judicial conduct or judgment. The prestige of judicial office shall not be used or lent to advance the private interests of others, nor convey or permit others to convey the impression that they are in a special position to influence the judge. These senator-judges should exercise restraint in their manifestations and line of questioning. Three of them do not leave anything to the imagination. They are very obvious.

Their behavior and expressions while they are doing Facebook Live or are in press conferences, are very palpable evidence that they already prejudged the matters still under trial. Section 5 reminds them: Judges shall not only be free from inappropriate connections with, and influenced by, the executive and legislative branches of government, but must also appear to be free therefrom to a reasonable observer Section 6 says: Judges shall be independent in relation to society in general and in relation to the particular parties to a dispute which he or she has to adjudicate.

Section 7 provides: Judges are called upon to encourage and uphold safeguards for the discharge of judicial duties in order to maintain and enhance the institutional and operational independence of the judiciary. And section 8 commands: Judges shall exhibit and promote high standards of judicial conduct in order to reinforce public confidence in the judiciary which is fundamental to the maintenance of judicial independence.

If these three senator-judges do not reform their behavior, they can be admonished by the people to go back to their oath and start acting, behaving, and speaking as truly independent judges whose decisions are dictated only by the facts borne by evidence, by the provisions of law and the compelling force of jurisprudence. Nothing less and nothing more.