Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile did what was only proper in citing private prosecution lawyer Vitaliano Aguirre for contempt. With two lady senator-judges opting to invoke the rules of court, how could the Senate president not agree?
But we are also in conformity with the private prosecutor’s remarks, made on primetime TV, that he merely may have been an instrument in expressing the public sentiment about Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago.
It is ironic that earlier on, the court ruled against the prosecution’s move to subpoena Chief Justice Renato Corona’s spouse and children. To be candid about it, Aguirre’s fault was his refusal to say only the things that the impeachment court wants to hear. That is why defense lawyer Jose Roy III, despite his insinuation in a hastily called conference of “a P100 million per senator” Palace offer, was not meted out any penalty by the court. He sheepishly apologized before the court.
It is a blessing that the school hours coincide with the impeachment trial’s schedule. Our children will never be able to understand what’s happening on the impeachment floor. But we cannot avoid raising the question of some of the judges’ fitness to render a decision on whether the Chief Justice is fit and deserving of his present position. Not too long ago, there was a golden era of the Senate, when both the topnotchers and cellar-dwellers in senatorial elections were worthy of admiration, if not adulation. They are truly missed!
—MANUEL Q. BONDAD, manuelbondad@yahoo.com