Pray for truth to come out, Vidal asks public

The Catholic faithful in Cebu were asked to pray for truth to come out of the impeachment proceedings on Chief Justice Renato Corona to ensure the survival of the country’s democracy.

“We have to pray because this is a delicate matter that affects the three branches of government,” Cebu Archbishop Emeritus Ricardo Cardinal Vidal told reporters yesterday.

He said the public should also trust the Senate in “extracting the truth” during the impeachment proceedings.

“Let the procedure go on because it is the process. Let us pray for them (senators) so they will be guided accordingly,” Vidal said.

He said the senators should avoid quarreling especially during the hearing because it would set a bad example to the public.

The impeachment trial kicked off last week with a disclosure on Corona’s statement of assets and liabilities.

The House prosecution team and the lawyers said more revelations will be made this week  to tie up the evidences on the ownership of properties linked to Corona and his family under Article 2 of the impeachment complaint.

Some senators have admitted experiencing some ho-hum moments in the first four days of the impeachment trial of Corona, no thanks to the lengthy marking of evidence by the prosecution and Senate clerks and boring testimonies.

“What makes it boring is not the objections by the defense but the marking of evidence,” said Sen. Ralph Recto, one of the 21 senators who showed up at the first week of trial.

Recto expects excitement in the trial to kick in once the prosecution lawyers start tying up the evidence so far marked with Article II, which refers to Corona’s failure to disclose his SALNs.

“It will be exciting once the evidence is tied together with the articles and the charges,”’ he said.

Back in Cebu, a UP journalism professor said media coverage of the impeachment trial should focus on letting the public understand the proceedings from where they can draw their opinion.

Prof. Danilo Arao, assistant vice president for Public Affairs and journalism professor of UP-Diliman, said the media’s coverage “trivialized” Corona’s impeachment.

“The serious issues get mixed with the trivial,” Arao said in the forum titled the State of the Philippine Media at the UP Cebu College yesterday.

He said the proceedings should be viewed as a political and legal process, where the media should simplify things for the audience to understand.

Arao said the media coverage focused on trivial matters like the attitude or gestures of the speakers in the court.

“It’s a dumbing down process, the coverage should elevate the understanding of the public to a higher level,” he said.

He said the coverage should provide a factual marathon during live coverage, like the reporters explaining what the proceedings are all about and simplifying the events during the “lull moments” of the proceedings.

Arao also said the commentaries should also focus on the process and not on the context of the case. With an Inquirer report