Category: senate

The Senate on Trial

After hearing from Amici Curiae in the Senate Impeachment Court, my first reaction was, bakit puro lalaki?  Dahil walang former Chief Justice na babae? Pero Associate Justice din lang yung isa, kahit pa kasali siya sa nag-frame ng 1987 Constitution. Wala bang former AJ na babae na qualified to weigh in, just in case may naiibang pananaw o angle o retorika?

Not that the men disappointed. Adequately explained naman ang two sides of the argument: yung 16 as immutable or fixed threshold (AJ Adolf Azcuna) VS. yung adjustable 2/3 of the members in attendance (CJs Hilario Davide, Artemio Panganiban, Reynato Puno). Ibig sabihin: 16 votes needed to impeach — kung 2/3 of 24 senators; 14 votes needed — kung 2/3 of 20, absent Estrada and Marcoleta, Bato and Loren).

BALL’S IN YOUR COURT, SENATE….
My major major take-away is that  the ex-CJ Supremes were unanimous on: the Senate Court’s “sole” power  to interpret and to promulgate rules relating to the Impeachment. Ibig sabihin, the Senators will have to resolve the issues by their collegial lonesomes. Hindi maaasahan, as of the moment, ang Supreme Court to decide the matter for them. Unless, of course, the Supremes of today deem otherwise?

Siyempre the DDS bloc (7 of 11 show up intermittently) deeply wish to abide by the fixed 16 votes (kunwari everybody present) — yan daw ang ibig sabihin ng Constitution sa “2/3 of all the members,” na pinanindigan pa ni Justice Azcuna. Pahihirapan ang current Majority of 13 to come up with 3 more votes.

At siyempre the DDS bloc want Estrada and Marcoleta to be allowed to attend the hearings either electronically or in person, and supplied with copies of transcripts atbp. para makaboto din sila. Ang tanong, para que? For what? For the numbers man lang, para madagdagan ang bilang nila, in case mabawasan pa dahil BAKA may makasuhan at makulong pang iba?

WHAT IF WE RAISE THE BAR
What kind of Senate is this na ang daming miyembro na may kaso, o may nagbabadyang kaso, for plunder atbp. What if, sa 2028, i-ban ng Comelec from running for election anyone with a pending corruption case? Itigil na yang innocent-until-proven-guilty eklat. Lalo pa kung flood-control-scam related ang kaso — itrato silang guilty-until-proven-innocent, and, therefore, not qualified to run for public office or deserving of public trust until declared innocent by the courts.

GUILTY UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT
Believe it or not, the legal maxim “innocent until proven guilty” is based on the long questioned, always challenged, premise that humans are inherently good — isinilang tayo na mabait — therefore daw, if accused of wrongdoing, it is more likely that you are innocent rather than guilty.  Pero hindi ba kabaligtaran iyan ng Catholic premise of “original sin” na ating kinagisnan kinalakhan at pinaniniwalaan, and which is why mayroong Baptism, Confession, and Communion, even Extreme Unction, ang Simbahan as cleansing Sacraments?

Maybe the two most famous opposing views on this debate are those of Thomas Hobbes and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Hobbes describes humans as ‘nasty’ and ‘brutish’, needing society and rules to reign in their instincts in order to thrive; later Rousseau openly criticised him, arguing instead that man would be gentle and pure without the corruption of greed and inequality caused by the class system imposed by our society. https://www.bbcearth.com/

Let the burden be on the accused senators and congressmen — first come first served — to prove that they’re innocent, and if they cannot, likely because their SALNs and bank accounts and maybe new whistleblowers say otherwise, then ipagkukulong sila. No ifs or buts, no house or hospital arrests, No Mercy.

FOR NOW, LOOKING FORWARD TO ORAL ARGUMENTS

Sept 23 the Court is set to hear oral arguments from the prosecution and defense on the threshold question, after which the Senators will decide, although Sen Ping is asking to sleep on it before voting. Nang mapag-isipan nang mabuti. Oo nga naman. It will be quite a show.

September to remember

Even while a “junglegate” tempest is currently brewing in literary circles, we, journalists who do not belong in that ivory league, continue to write from the trenches. But we must stand with the hurt and the hurting, literary brilliance on the part of the suspects with their proclivities notwithstanding.

That’s from Inquirer columnist Ceres P. Doyo‘s “Soliloquy in D flat major”, also an invitation to the Manila International Book Fair (MIBF) where her signing sked for a new book — How I Became a Writer 2: Essays by Filipino Writers, edited by Cecilia Manguerra Brainard, published by Vibal — and other titles is 4 p.m. tomorrow Saturday.

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The bad news is, the Supreme Court reversed the November 2018 Sandiganbayan decision that convicted Imelda Marcos of 7 counts of graft. The decision, penned by Associate Justice Rodil V. Zalameda, seems uninformed of the 2003 Supreme Court ruling that the recovered funds from Swiss foundations, involving more than $200 Million, to be ill-gotten wealth, stolen from public monies. Biglang may reasonable doubt kuno. “An ‘insult’ to decades of public accountability efforts,” say ni former PCGG commissioner Ruben Carranza to Karmina Constantino on ANC Alerts. Nakakainit ng ulo. Obviously the campaign to whitewash the Marcos name, even if only for their history books, continues apace.

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Nakakataas naman ng kilay ang drama ni Senate majority floor leader Migz Zubiri, first complaining about how tired he is, what with the impeachment trial and budget deliberations, and then suddenly admitting, agreeing with the DDS, na dapat ay may pahintulot muna ng local courts bago inilipad si Digong sa Holland, and this on the heels of VP Sara exclaiming for all to hear that she doesn’t trust our courts, or something like that. Tila gulung-gulo’t hirap na hirap si Sen Migz, taga-Mindanao ba kasi? Closet DDS bai, for whatever reason? At masakit sa ulo at sa puso ang impeachment trial ni VP? Smile, Migz, you’re on candid camera ;-)

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Babalik pa kaya sina Sen Alan Peter at Sen Pia Cayetano? Babalik pa kaya sina Sen Loren Legarda at Rep Leandro Leviste? May mga nagpupustahan na malamang, in the hundreds, some in the thousands, of pesos, maybe more, just like noong nabalitang aarestuhin si former Speaker Martin. Parang championship match, pustahan na lang. Either hindi na babalik dahil takot makulong a la Marcoleta and Estrada. Or babalik dahil innocent sila until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt. The latest though from NBI director Melvin Matibag to Tony Velasquez on DZMM is, pabalik ang mga Cayetano over the weekend. Sana all.

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From Senate to SONA #tryingtimes

It’s a welcome six-day break from the Impeachment Trial that’s proving to be such a trial, too, for us who just want to see and hear the evidence so we can make up our own minds. It’s also quite trying, being confronted with Senator-Judges shamelessly inappropriately defending, practically trolling for, the respondent instead of trying, or pretending man lamang, to keep an open mind. Why can’t they wait ’til the end when they get to explain their votes? Patience is a virtue, ika nga.

Meanwhile puwede munang pag-ukulan ng pansin ang pre-SONA noise vs. PBBM coming from the Left and the DDS and INC.

The Left has long demanded that both BBM and VP Sara resign and give way to a broad-coalition “transition council” representative of the masses and marginalized. The DDS and INC have long demanded only the ouster | resignation of BBM a la EDSA ’86, with the help of the military and people power, so that VP Sara can take over.

But neither the Left’s “transition council” nor  a Sara Duterte presidency  will bring about the CHANGE we so badly need. Everything they’re throwing against Bongbong — the corruption in government, the economic crisis, the flood-control scandal — started long before his term. There are no quick fixes. There are too many critical issues and policies over which we are divided, nay, fractured into factions. If we really want CHANGE that the masses, and not just the few, will benefit from, kailangan nating magkaisa, magkaintindihan, mag-usap nang walang pinoprotektahan at isinasaalang-alang except the common good. And we’re a long long way from that.

And so for now, because BBM is the duly-elected President, thanks or no-thanks to the Dutertes, I wish him a good SONA. May all his promises come true — but NO to Pax Silica! #exhaustednotdemented

Edsa @ Malacañang ?!?

UPDATE: Vice President Sara Duterte on June 12 rejected calls by some retired military officers and other groups for her to lead a People Power movement against the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. “Wala sa aking mga kamay ang pagsasagawa ng extra constitutional means to overthrow the current administration. At hindi ko din gusto ‘yun. Hindi ko gusto agawin ‘yung posisyon ni Bongbong Marcos,” she said. https://www.facebook.com/ONENewsPH/

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JUNE 10 post

In case you’re not seeing the DDS algorithm on your social media platforms, FYI lang, nagtatawag na naman ng people power ang Duterte diehard supporters para daw patumbahin si BBM.

May Tiktok video na umiikot: flashback kuno to EDSA 1986 that opens with a clip of Juan Ponce Enrile kunyari when he defected Feb 22, obviously AI, saying daw:

Lumabas kayo sa bahay ninyo, sapagkat ang bayan na ito ay bayan ng malalaya na mamamayang Pilipino.

Thing is, Enrile said nothing of the sort, ever. It wasn’t he, but Butz Aquino and Cardinal Sin, who called on the Coryistas to come shield Enrile, FVR, and RAM from Marcos, hopefully to prevent bloodshed. Enrile himself was busy preparing to defend Camp Aguinaldo, and to shoot back and die fighting in case General Ver fired the first shot.

Also, quick clips of the EDSA 1986 yellow-clad crowds, the nuns, the praying, Cory asking Marcos to to step down “so we can have a peaceful transition of government,” while the fixed onscreen graphic reads:

History repeat itself!
From Marcos vs Aquino
to Marcos vs Duterte
June 12, 2026 Independence Day see y’all.

Duterte Supporters https://www.tiktok.com/@dannellecario/video/

See y’all where? Sa Palasyo daw, ayon dito, na umiikot din sa Tiktok:

Pakikalat ang mensahe! June 12,
Tambay na tayo sa Malakanyang sa Loob ng isang Linggo
ANO NA?
Tigil muna tayo sa pagtrabaho!
Gulatin natin si BBM sa Malacanang!
MILLIONS
OF FILIPINO
RISE AS ONE!
Tambayan natin ng isang linggo!
Wa muna natin siya pasahorin!
Tigil muna tayo sa pagbubuhis!
Tigil muna tayo sa trabaho!
DOON TAYO MAGPA HINGA SA PALASYO
June 12 Araw Ng kalayaan
BBM RESIGN! https://www.tiktok.com/@zutel_46/video/

Ikonek natin sa balita ni RaMon Tulfo sa Facebook noong June 5 tungkol sa isang topsecret military conference sa Camp Crame over security concerns re a plan to storm the palace on June 12.

My tweety bird who attended the meeting in Camp Crame says the agenda was the plan to storm Malacanang by pro-Sara groups on June 12, to coincide with the Independence Day.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) has received intelligence reports of a planned attack on the Palace to be led by a religious sect. According to my tweety bird , the conferees tackled the defense of Malacanang. https://www.facebook.com/isumbongmo.kaytulfo.5/

Na kinonfirm ni vlogger Pebbles Talakera 5NA:

Naloka ako pinost ni Sir Mon Tulfo….may pa surprise sana ang mga sundalo sa mga mangugulo. Ready si PBBM… ang kulto ng KOJC at INC ay kasama sa plano. https://www.facebook.com/

Saan kaya sila tatambay for one week? The streets beyond the palace barricades, I guess? We shall see soon enough who and what crowds they can muster this time. Matagal na silang nagtatawag ng people power, simula pa noong lumabas ang vangag video, pero mabibilang ang sumisipot, ke sa EDSA o sa Liwasang Bonifacio.

Mas katanong-tanong if it’s merely a distraction from the real action that seems to be looming over at the Senate, inside and outside, principally over the VP’s Impeachment Trial that the Dutertes and their allies are trying to stop at all costs.

Kailan lang may nakita akong video sa FB feed ko ng mga rallyista na nagbabatuhan ng kung ano-ano at naglalaban sa Senate grounds — mga grupong DDS-cum-INC vs. grupong BBM daw. Walang ganyan noong EDSA 1986. Walang sakitan, walang bastusan, walang batuhan. At walang AI.