The impeachment trial of Chief Justice Corona happened at the right time when the overflowing energies of the Sinulog have settled down. Before day 1 of the trial, I heard Rep. Erin Tanada interviewed on Teleradyo at DYAB where he explained the whole process and the content of the discussion. It was very clear what and how the trial would be all about. Though I could not follow the hearings extensively, the summaries given by news reporters were enough to keep me updated of the progress of the trial. My interest in the impeachment trial is not so much on the personalities involved in the trial but as an educator (though I have retired from teaching). I see the significance of the impeachment trial to the teaching of history and English (especially Composition), which have been my field of teaching.
For the history teachers, the impeachment trial is a good opportunity to make students think, express what they think, interview people, and write about the event. After all, history is also about writing. Everybody watches TV, schools have TV sets for classroom use, so there’s no reason for complaining for lack of equipment.
For the English teachers (both high school and college), the English class is a laboratory for speaking and writing. I remember my English teaching days when English (Composition) classes focused on the four forms of writing—descriptive, expository, narrative and argumentative—with their oral counterparts. These came in the form of formal and informal themes, and essay writing. In the higher levels came the class debate on social and current issues (by dividing the class into groups of six, depending on the class size), the baby thesis and the oral defense. In the process, students also learn to listen, to interview and do extensive research. The impeachment trial is the best source for a writing and speaking exercise.
The impeachment trial also shows the importance of extensive investigation and also allows us to witness the methods of interrogation. TV programs like “CSI,” “CSI Miami,” “CSI New York,” “Law and Order” (and its complementary series), which are among my favorite programs, show us the creative ways of investigation and the brilliant methods of interrogation. In 1981 when I was pursuing my MA in Asian Studies at the Asian Center in UP Diliman, I accidentally attended a supreme court hearing. It happened when I was walking in Padre Faura St. on my way to Solidaridad Bookshop to look for some references for my paper in Asian Studies. Right in front of the Supreme Court building, I met Sister Vincent Borromeo who invited me to attend the supreme court hearing of the seven farmers of Davao who were detained without arrest warrants. At first I declined but when she said that Senator Jose “Pepe”Diokno was the defense lawyer of the seven farmers, I decided to go. It was an interesting experience of brilliant lawyering that I will never forget. I remember that every time Senator Diokno stood to defend the seven farmers, with a very gentlemanly bearing, so articulate and with a well modulated voice, the hall was hushed, all the judges (with Claudio Teehankee then as the Chief Justice) sat and listened attentively; and when Estelito Mendoza the prosecutor spoke, only Justice Teehankee was listening, the other justices were slouching back on their chairs. I thank Sister Vincent for the invitation for it gave me the opportunity to witness what is real lawyering. During Martial Law I heard Sen. Diokno speak a lot of times, but it was different when he was in the Supreme Court defying a dictatorship and defending the marginalized. I look forward to the time when the Philippines will have another Jose “Pepe” Diokno, an authentic defender of human rights, lawyer and senator.
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On the feast of the Sto. Niño last Jan. 14, LAW Center Inc. held an Agape, a love feast at the Arbet Sta. Ana- Yongco Training Hall in Sikatuna Street, which is also the office of the LAW Center Inc. Special guest, who gave the homily about unconditional love was Fr. Christopher Salonga, RCG who is the author of the book “Better 2012 and Beyond: A Christian Perspective of the End of the World,” which I wrote about in my last column. I was very glad to meet the young priest-author who has written several books on spirituality. LAW Inc. is one of the distributors of his books.