Filipino lawyer Lorna Kapunan, the feisty, veteran litigator is not known to be a chess expert , in or out of the country, Until recently. In comparison, the American Bobby Fischer is a well-known chess genius . worldwide . He was known to think of his chess moves several times ahead of his opponent.
Kapunan, however, is probably a genius all her own, a sui generis like the impeachment proceeding where she plays as a private prosecutor, pro bono or for free. She thinks she has to do his job ,like one with her unlikely balls, to call a spade a spade.
She has likened the current impeachment versus Vice President Sara Duterte, the first public official to be impeached twice, to a chess game. No doubt , it’s a game of intense difficulty that summons great strategy and political savvy, not to mention patience and an analytical mind to win. Make no mistake about it, that’s her goal at the end of the game.
Better if truth is served in the process.
In the realm of chess, Kapunan has beaten everyone regardless of their wins or rank in the world of of chess. It may have also shocked lawyers or politicians , even justices, about his latest move. She has announced to the whole world that she has decided on her/ team’s final move on the chessboard or impeachment court.
Her final move? Call the vice president as the witness in her own case. It is next to impossible for two reasons,at least: she is not inclined to do so and the law prohibits the same. Kapunan and the prosecution team believe a subpoena issued for her to appear may make that impossible possible. The impeachment court will issue it upon the request of the prosecution.
Kapunan revealed that they will execute the final move after all the hearings of the four impeachment complaints shall have been completed. Two of them involving great threats and alleged misuse of the confidential and intelligence funds are through. Two cases on unexplained wealth and_bribery of education official are next in line,
In other words, Presiding Officer Chiz Escudero, who was widely commended for handling the impeachment proceedings well after almost derailing with his flip -lopping mind on “forthwith”, will issue the subpoena, notwithstanding the prohibition to compel the vice president to take the witness stand.
But the vice president can do it voluntarily, a precedent set by former Supreme Court justice Renato Corona who was eventually convicted of violating the provisions on the statement of liabilities and networth (SALN)
It seems a strategic plan. One spinmeister DUBBED IT as a gambit, or queen’s gambit. In chess parlance, it is baiting the opponent
To take one piece as a free capture and apparently a plus for the opponent. Kapunan thinks that’s the way to corner a queen, the most important piece in the board., literally and metaphorically.
The vice president or his team of 16 topnotch lawyers can’t be taken for a ride. It’s a toxic move and threatens the defense plan of getting the vice president off the hook. So the gambit is declined. Kapunan knew it before hand. She may think rightly or wrongly that the prosecution is ahead. But the vice president will not be delivered with her head on the platter like Salome wanted John the Baptist’s. No way Juana and the Constitution, and Saraa’s choice, stand in the way.
The defense are looking forward to the vice president acquittal which explains why they were many and so good at what they do.The pro-Duterte senators whose number may be enough to achieve the purpose seem to confirm that, one way or the other.
That advantage is slowly being eroded. Two senator judges are in jail ,one is seeking medical help abroad, another is staring at a potentially damaging case over reclamation, one is summoned over the escape of another senator who is now considered a fugitive.
The Constitution states that the impeachment needs two thirds of its members to convict an impeached official. The magic number is said to be 16. Others say it’s not an absolute . Given what’s happening among the pro-Duterte senators, it stands to reason or logic that the number is a moveable feast.
The foremost legal experts, this time three former chief SC justices and an associate justice, have been invited as amicus curiae to the impeachment court;Hopefully, this will weigh down on the senator-judges’ votes. Except perhaps for the choir.
Even this would have been factored in in the final vote as envisaged by Kapunan and company. In the end, there’s no substitute for the vice president appearing in the Senate and tell why she should not be convicted. Kapunan and former Senate president Tito Sotto has the simplest explanation: a kitchen sink will not harm the innocent.
That’s a 64 dollar question. Kapunan wants that all the complaints against be heard first. Presumably, the future hearings should bare more evidence of wrong doing.That’s the job of the prosecution not to make Sara look good. An impeachment is supposed to be a weeding out of an undesirable from public office, especially before 2028.
Apart from impeachment, there is now a criminal case for grave threats against Sara . She has used the case as her platform to call for the President to resign for various reasons. Like his vintage father, the late dictator, President Bongbong Marcos has a funny if not a ridiculous retort: he said he could not force someone to love him. He is a Machia vellian in mind and he’s not the least perturbed by some woman’s public wrath.
With all that, including PBBM’s self-deprecating egotistical male chauvinism, all that’s been said and done, and will be said and done in the rest of the impeachment hearings, Kapunan has made it clear that the ball will fall in Chiz’ hands ultimately. Will he call Sara to the witness stand?
It is as forthright as it is fraught.
