First day of Corona impeach trial filled with ironies, bereft of drama

IT’S MORE FUN… Amid the high drama and history, the head of the defense team, former Supreme Court Associate Justice Serafin Cuevas, teasingly slaps the waist of the head of the House prosecution team, Rep. Niel Tupas Jr., after the impeachment trial at the Senate. LYN RILLON

The first day of Chief Justice Renato Corona’s trial was filled with ironies but bereft of the highly charged political drama that engulfed the nation 12 years ago, when then President Joseph Estrada went on trial for almost the same impeachable offenses.

Unlike the opening of the Estrada trial on Dec. 7, 2001, the hearing on Monday cannot be characterized as a political circus.

While both the prosecution and defense panels had traded barbs through the media in the weeks leading up to the Corona trial, there were no such fireworks on the Senate floor when the contending parties delivered their opening statements.

Unexpectedly, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile stole the thunder from former Supreme Court Associate Justice Serafin Cuevas, head of the defense panel, and Iloilo Representative Niel Tupas Jr., the chief prosecutor of the House of Representatives.

Enrile, a veteran lawyer and defense minister in the Marcos dictatorship, took full control of the proceedings. He disposed off the pending motions and manifestations in a record time of less than two hours, and adjourned the hearing before any of the senators or lawyers could grandstand.

The defense had expected the Senate to allow a preliminary trial in an effort to declare void the articles of impeachment, which were transmitted by the House to the Senate last December 13, because of the haste with which the impeachment case was tackled by the Lower Chamber.

Neither Cuevas, despite his obvious legal acumen, nor Tupas, a rising star in the Lower Chamber, held sway in the opening salvo of the impeachment battle; they were not given enough time to expound on their respective positions, save for the perfunctory five-minute allotment to argue for or against the defense’s motion for a preliminary hearing.

Right at the onset Enrile declared that only the Senate could decide on matters pertaining to impeachment, a veiled warning to the high tribunal that the chamber, sitting as an impeachment court, would not be enjoined from  proceeding posthaste with the trial.

Order and decorum

The atmosphere in the Senate was rife with anticipation, but protagonists displayed civility and decorum.

This semblance of order gave the public sudden respite from the bickering that preceded the trial, momentarily keeping from public view the clash of the titans, as it were, and seemingly obscuring the historical implications of the trial on the workings of checks-and-balances of the three branches of government.

The limited crowd, including 40 members of the media that had been allowed entry into the gallery, appeared sedate.

Gone, too, were the usual pushing and shoving among photographers during high-profile coverage at the Senate.

Under the watchful eye of Samuel Santos, director for print media service of the Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau, and Senate Sergeant at Arms Jose Balajadia, the photographers left in a huff as soon as Enrile and 20 senator-judges entered the chamber at 2:11 p.m.

“It’s dignified, it’s very, very sober, a learning process for everyone. I must commend the Senate president for decorum and the seriousness of the impeachment process,” said former Antique Governor Sally Zaldivar-Perez, who likened the Estrada trial she had witnessed to a “circus.”

“It’s good that people are informed. It should be like that—we should not be carried by our emotions,” she added.

Filled with ironies

Besides the fact that the highest magistrate in the land is being tried for alleged violation of his oath of office and perceived partiality toward the appointing authority, former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the proceeding was filled with ironies.

In his opening statement, the boyish-looking Tupas seemed like a student lecturing his professor when he asked the impeachment court to remove Corona.

“Impeach, we must. Renato Corona … is unfit to remain as Chief Justice,” Tupas declared.

The Corona couple were a picture of calm and restraint while seated with political opponents at the gallery reserved for important guests, which was located at the rear portion of the session hall facing the tables of senator-judges.

The seating arrangement provided a clue as to the nature of the impeachment process in which the political departments of government have an upper hand over the judiciary. Instead of occupying a special seat in the chamber sitting as an impeachment court, Corona was seated at the end of the second row.

The seat of honor—the first row—was occupied by former Senators Ernesto Maceda and Francisco Tatad; Enrile’s spouse, former Ambassador Cristina Ponce-Enrile, and their daughter, Katrina; and Bing Pimentel, spouse of former Senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr.

The Corona couple found themselves seated at the end of the second row which was also occupied by House representatives led by Speaker Feliciano Belmonte.

What’s on his mind?

Corona was stealing glances from time to time, but showed no emotions. Amid his silence, the question on everybody’s mind was the thoughts running through the head of the man principally tasked by the law and the Constitution to dispense justice to every Filipino.

Cuevas explained to the impeachment court that Corona’s presence proved that he was showing respect for the impeachment body, and that his client was innocent of the charges leveled against him.

He said Corona was entitled to an acquittal.

But with the outright rejection of the two motions filed by the defense, the prosecution panel had an upper hand in Monday’s proceeding.

Senators remained tight-lipped and refused to be interviewed by reporters. Except for the brief manifestations raised by Senators Franklin Drilon and Francis Pangilinan, the other senators stayed on the sidelines for now.

The silence from  the minority bloc was deafening, with neither Senator Joker Arroyo, the star in the Estrada impeachment trial, nor Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano, an anti-Arroyo critic, rising to the occasion.

The only audible voice from the senator-judges that resonated within the halls of the chamber was the opening prayer of Senator Edgardo Angara.

“Lord, enlighten our minds so that we may do what is right and just and fair. Spare us from dissension and discord set off by selfish ambition, faction, and envy. But endow us with sound judgment and discernment—so that we will not judge by external appearances,” he intoned.