Suddenly, it looks like the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte might turn out to be an easy task, a walk in the park , so to speak, for the House prosecution. It seemed it would go the ho-hum way. The vice president promised it will be more exciting with a bloodbath though.
The sixteen top notch lawyers hired to defend her indicated that the vice president must not be taken literally or even prophetically, although hindsight makes some sense in a mysterious way. There’s the unseen rub.
The vice president, cannot be be overemphasized enough, is facing impeachment in a week or so from now, for four reasons: alleged misused of confidential fund, death threat, bribery and unexplained wealth. She’s no superwoman although she projects herself to be as beautiful if not as strong.
Two things must be hurdled per the Constitution in this high -stake trial: I6 votes of the 24 senators or two-thirds of the Senate members are needed to unseat the vice president and only only one conviction on the four cases will suffice to do that. Six votes, on the other hand, will be enough to acquit her.
As the game of numbers show, the impeachment appears to be a climb and a trek to Mt. Everest than a stroll at Luneta. The disparity is a formula in a true democracy. No wonder there’s too much zigzagging when the shortest route between two points is a straight line.
The jury is still out on both legal debates. There is a school of thought that says the threshold to convict the vice president can still be lowered in view of the current legal situation the Senate is now in . One senator is still in hiding because of a warrant issue against him and another senator is under preventive suspension. No appearance, no vote.
Their absence is to make the difference effectively distinctive in her impeachment trial . It also makes the heart grow fonder for the pro-Duterte senator-judges believed to be partial to the vice president , notwithstanding the Constitutional exhortation not to be in such a mood.
The hope or fear by many that it will be a saving grace to the vice president is further diminished factually by the apparent defection of Senator Joel Villanueva to the new majority headed by the new Senate President Win Gatchalian. The grim prospect is also dimmed theoretically by the rumor that Sen. Chiz Escudero may preside in the trial. At one time, the former Senate president gave up his glass of wine to the First Lady who, at one time, was threatened by the vice president in alleged mutual destruction even if imaginatively conveyed or understood. Connect the dot.
Maybe such envisioned attrition, which is why Malacanang is a prime suspect, or number erosion, which amounts to the same political crime ,may make the job easier. The Win-win idea is not mere political hyperventilation.
Even without Malacanang’s intervention or other contributing factors, some members of the prosecution see the light of the tunnel for conviction, and the strongest case seen there is the threat of a triple homicide involving the President, the First Lady and the former speaker of the House. It’s a best case scenario for those who toast Grecian tragedy and hubris.
The incontrovertible proof to this alleged crime,even if imaginary, has been captured on free television nationwide, replayed many times over, revisited by legal and police experts for probative value. Eureka, said Archimedes, there is specific gravity in the scandalous revelation. There’s no bloodbath, the feisty lawyer Lorna Kapunan, concluded, but simply bubble bath in the making.
There is a trick downside to evidence vis-à-vis the impeachment. Lawyers think evidence are prime rib steaks, hard to resist because they’re super rich in taste and nutrient. Politicians are vegetarian; they love lazy chewing and chewing back until the grass is fully drained.
Until the shooting spree incident in Tacloban City by two minors that killed three and injured many. How can the unfortunate incident have any remote connection to the impending impeachment of the vice president? Cannot have a cake and eat it, too.
Lawyers, according to the father of the vice president and a former president, lawyers are smart people. No credibility there because the International Criminal Court still holds him in custody. Besides, the House prosecution has many tough and tested lawyers and are ready to rumble with the best and brightest on the defense team.
Public officials are supposed to display orderly, elderly and exemplary behavior and as living icons of decent, honorable, responsible ethical behavior. It would be tempting to juxtapose what’s ethical behavior when the vice president displayed her skewed anger to the President, his wife and first cousin and showed how she would deal or had already planned to deal with it. Exhibit A , Your Honors.
No, it would not only be a temptation but a real strategy to show the whole nation, still mourning the death by drowning of a promising cager , a minor, and the subsequent death of three teenagers cut in their prime youth by violent shooters who were also minors. Would the vice president video footage on the alleged threat to the president’s life be an inspiration?
Better yet, how would the vice president respond to an interview on the recent shooting in Tacloban? Parrot the familiar line to lower the age of the criminal liability of young people?
As it is, the House prosecution and the Senate should find a clearer and more convincing way to see the vice president impeachment challenge on a better, more redemptive perspective. A cul de sac ending will be bad for literature and for the future of the nation. A fairy tale ending might just work for every one on both sides of the political divide.
Remember, there is a bigger audience watching.
