Fariñas apologizes to impeachment court

Ilocos Norte Representative Rodolfo Fariñas. https://www.congress.gov.ph/

Quite unlike the bravado he displayed on Tuesday, Ilocos Norte Representative Rodolfo Fariñas was subdued and apologetic at the Senate impeachment court Wednesday.

Gone was the intensity with which Fariñas, as a member of the House prosecution panel, lectured the Senate impeachment court on its constitutional role in an impeachment process.

His remarks enlivened Tuesday’s trial but slighted not only some senator-judges but also Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, the presiding officer.

“I apologize if my style of countering arguments may not be to the liking of some people. I have utmost respect for the Senate President and members of the Senate,” Fariñas said.

Senator Pia Cayetano took the floor early on to put Fariñas in his place as a prosecutor.

Separate roles

She reminded him that while senators and members of the House both belonged to the legislature, each chamber was fulfilling a task contradictory to the other’s in an impeachment trial.

“We are not together; we have our own duties … We [senators] are the judges. We have separate tasks. It is important for people to know that we have our own separate roles,”  Cayetano said.

She was particularly referring to Fariñas’ invitation to the Senate to join him and the other prosecutors in their attempt to remove the impeached Renato Corona as Chief Justice.

Full force and power

Enrile said the impeachment court had been “quite lenient” in the conduct of the proceedings.

“Henceforth, we will apply the full force and power of this court to maintain order in the conduct of this trial,” he declared.

Enrile warned members of the prosecution to be careful about their statements. He said the prosecutors were free to air their opinions, “but they are opinions not of the impeachment court.”

The Senate President added: “We are not partisans in this court. We are the triers and hearers of fact. And I think every lawyer  knows this norm. We are not combatants; we’re judges. We’re the referees between the prosecution and the defense.

“I hope that whatever statements implying that this court is an adversary to anyone … should be taken without any value because this court is a court of law designated by the sovereign people in their Constitution to render justice according to evidence, nothing more and nothing less.”

‘I take care of my name’

Explaining what he meant by his remarks, Fariñas said his real intention was to remind everyone that all “public officials,” such as members of the legislature and the judiciary, and even the “President of the country,” could be removed via impeachment.

He also took pains to apologize to Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr., who was offended when he joked on Tuesday that any senator could be removed from the Senate for “disorderly” conduct.

“I ask for your forgiveness,” Fariñas said.

Revilla accepted the apology but not before saying, in Filipino, that he was “hurt” by the congressman’s remarks, which, he said, would unfairly portray him to the public as a senator committing disorderly conduct in the chamber.

“Mr. Congressman, I take care of my name, so we should be careful with our pronouncements. I do respect you—you’re a friend of my dad (former Sen. Ramon Revilla Sr.)—but respect all of us here,” Revilla said.

Then he added: “Apology accepted.”