The Philippine Online Chronicles

If there’s one thing that the last 9 days of the impeachment trial has shown, it is that it isn’t easy to remove someone from his appointed or elected position.

Prosecution team facing challenges

The 9th day of the impeachment trial once again showed how the prosecution team has been breaking at the seams. It seems like the case of the prosecution wasn’t being presented as well as they thought.

Once put under the spotlight, the prosecution team is now facing many challenges they probably didn’t expect when they drafted the impeachment complaint. Who can forget all the drama, dressing down and inflammatory statements that have unfolded in the recent weeks?

Since the 1st week, the prosecution has gotten a dressing down from the Senate President, various senators and even “payong kapatid” from Senator Koko Pimentel. They have been reprimanded various times in court for their behavior in and out of the courtroom. Even the way the impeachment complaint was written and presented has been a problem.

Only one witness on Day 9

Adobe Flash Player not installed or older than 9.0.115!

The prosecution was supposed to present 4 to 5 witnesses for Day 9 of the trial. However, only 1 witness was presented regarding Corona’s purchase of the Bellaggio property from Megaworld Corporation. The witness was Noli Hernandez, a top ranking executive of Megaworld Corporation. The senior vice president of marketing of the property developer ended up giving a testimony that was more favorable to the defense team than to the prosecution’s case.

Enrile saves the day

The Senate President has already ruled that the Senate would only accept testimony and evidence regarding the non-inclusion in the SALN. It would be improper for the senators to accept evidence relating to paragraph 2.4 of the impeachment complaint.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile once again showed Solomonic wisdom with this decision. He has also been vigilant about making sure that the trial doesn’t drag and the court’s time isn’t wasted.

Haste makes waste

The hasty way that the impeachment complaint was written is now showing and biting the ass of the prosecution team.

Because of the way the articles of impeachment have been written, each article of impeachment actually refers to several instances of impeachable offenses instead of one impeachment article per one incident. This is why it takes so long to go through each article of impeachment. It would have been easier if there were numerous articles of impeachment instead of lumping everything together under one offense.

In the prosecution’s haste to get things moving, it looks like they don’t always come to court prepared. Documents aren’t always marked and witnesses are presented when they really aren’t needed. Also, the prosecution keeps insisting on presenting witnesses and items relating to Article 3, when a witness is better suited to present testimony regarding Article 2 or another section of the impeachment complaint.

The prosecution needs to stop presenting witnesses unrelated to the specific impeachment complaint being presented. Senator Koko Pimentel even gave the brotherly advice to stop continuing in presenting the improper witness for an article of impeachment.

Present the evidence to the court before the public

Senator Chiz Escudero has also commented on the unfairness of the prosecution team in presenting evidence to the court of public opinion before it is brought to the impeachment court in the Senate. This is because it is creating an unfair bias in the minds of the public. It turns out that some evidence that the public is already aware of has not yet actually been admitted in court.

Talk to the witness first

The prosecution was caught off guard when it presented a witness that actually testified something that supported the defense rather than the prosecution’s case. For those who had tuned in to the hearings midway, it would seem that Hernandez was a defense witness instead of a witness for the prosecution.

Who goes to court unprepared? Apparently, the prosecution team does.

They were only able to summon the witness the day before he testified and so the prosecution team was not able to prepare the witness. To save face, they then started to try to impeach their own witness, as noted by the Senate President himself.

The prosecution cannot impeach its own witness. If it keeps doing that, then no one will come forward and testify anymore.

A lesson that can be learned here is that both the prosecution and defense team need to come to court prepared. Otherwise, they will waste the court’s time or worse, come up with witness testimony that is damaging to their case.

The senators are getting impatient

It’s very obvious that the senator judges are getting bored and restless with the impeachment trial. They are more avid in asking questions, probably so they can get to the root of the matter right away, and also to stave off boredom.

The senators no longer want to even discuss the 40% discount that Corona received in the purchase of the Bellaggio property.

It’s the reason why the attendance at the hearings is dwindling.

It must be the reason why Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago’s blood pressure seems to hit the roof during sessions.

This is why the lawyers get a dressing down and why the senators cut off witnesses and want to get down to the heart of the matter.

Even witnesses aren’t spared the ire of the senator judges. Senator Serge Osmena felt that Hernandez was being “glib”. Nagkakainisan na.

If this keeps up and the trial keeps dragging on at the slow pace that it is currently on, don’t be surprised if more dramatic temper tantrums occur or if the senators simply reprimand witnesses, lawyers and anyone else in the room, out of sheer frustration.

One of the reasons why the impeachment trial is slowing down is because the prosecution team is unprepared. Perhaps one way the impeachment proceeding can be accelerated is to cut down the number of witnesses. This is one suggestion by Senator Osmena.

It’s not as easy at it seems

All these things show that although there is a law and option to get a sitting official impeached, it’s not as easy as it seems. Massive amounts of evidence and credible testimony are necessary to present a thorough case that can be won in court.

On the plus side, the constitutional rights of the accused are still holding up. He cannot testify in court to implicate himself, neither can his family.

The senators are also being careful with the way they ask their questions. They seem to be careful in making sure that they are not biased. Senator Ping Lacson himself said that the senators take pains when asking their clarificatory questions so that the public won’t misconstrue that they are being partial to one side. At the same time, the senators are trying to abide with the sub judice rule, wherein they are prohibited from discussing the case to the media.

To the prosecution, get your act together. If you want a favorable verdict, better start acting more favorably. Otherwise, you may as well drop the case so we can all move on with our lives.

Screencap from PTV Philippines.