And then there were 20

What happened? Only the day before, people, including myself, were trying to imagine how the senator-judges hearing the impeachment case of Chief Justice Renato Corona would vote after all the argumentations and presentation of evidences and defenses had been made. I even admitted that I was hard put to tally the 16 who would condemn or the eight who would acquit. Never in my wildest imagination did I consider that 20 senators would vote for conviction, and only a measly three, the predictable three, would side with Corona.

***

But it was a truly transparent exercise, because all those who voted first had to justify themselves before the lawyers of the defense, the senator-judges, the prosecution team, the gallery, and the millions of Filipinos all over the country anxiously watching and waiting to see how their senators would act on the case of the highest magistrate of the land who had been charged for culpable violation of the Constitution and, during the hearings, had been determined to have concealed his enormous wealth by not reporting it as required by the Constitution.

***

It was a very formal, very dignified process, where the accused was favored with explanations on why he had to be convicted. Unlike the usual court hearings where decisions are proclaimed and the accused only gets to listen to the decision being read out, each voting senator in this case spoke up to justify his or her decision. The most interesting thing to watch were the faces of the defense lawyers, whose expressions gradually changed from being confident to disbelieving, especially when, one after the other, the senators who came up to speak and then render their verdicts, declared their client GUILTY. All twenty of them, save Senators Joker Arroyo, Miriam Defensor Santiago and Ferdinand Marcos Jr., as expected.

***

Days before the final day, many were fearful that the numbers would not be favorable to the prosecution. While a bigger number was conceded to the prosecution, they had to muster no less than 16, or two-thirds of the 24 who were trying the case. There were supposed to be at least six or seven “swing votes,” or those who may go one way or the other. At the final moment, however, they all swung to the direction of the prosecution, and Corona’s fate was sealed.

***

The first to vote was Senator Edgardo Angara, since they were supposed to be called in alphabetical order. And Angara proved to be the “buena mano” of the prosecution, since, after him, it was Arroyo, later, Defensor Santiago and Marcos (sounding very much like his father). Of couse Madame Santiago could not resist coming out with her usual dramatics and insults, which the members simply ignored or forgot about. We do not know exactly what they were thinking, but some did look amused, even when she started shrieking like a fishwife and scoring them for “kalokohan” and “kagaguhan (foolishness and stupidty)”, showing everybody that she thinks she is the only one who is right.

***

La Miriam also could not resist bragging about her experience as a regional trial court judge, and her coming stint as a member of the International Criminal Court (Heaven watch that court, its members and litigants). She even made a call to God, with eyes rolling upwards, to give her another life so she could investigate all of them. She should also have called on the spirit of her son who committed suicide, to look after her and placate her, lest she gets a stroke and be unable to report at the ICC.

***

The real hero of the event was Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile who was impeccable in the way he handled the proceedings. But he could not help giving a summary that I was afraid would match that of Corona on his first day, in length. But he took apart both defense and prosecution, tried to be fair to the accused, until he finally gave his own verdict: GUILTY as charged.

And so ended the trial of the century, a landmark in the history of justice in this country.*

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