Force to Resign or Impeach

The Filipino people are now monitoring the impeachment trial every day. Some people seem to be having fun, learning something, laughing, and being confused. By the way, people from all around the world wrote their comments, like we were watching a boxing match. Occasionally the prosecution and defense teams' punches and counter-punches are deadly, and occasionally they are unfair. Both sides want to knock each other out as soon as possible, even in the first round. Some people think that the fight's referees and judges had already made a bet. So, if the fight goes the distance, the jurors' objectivity will be taken into account.

If you were an objective observer with critical thinking skills, you might be able to come up with your thoughts on how the prosecution made its case and how the defense presented the law. Regrettably, not all our fellow citizens have received the necessary training to think critically and make fair decisions. The way that the idea of "idiotization" of the big media networks affects our daily life. This is shown in how our voters choose the leaders of our country. On that note, how people think about how the electorate chooses our leaders also shows how they feel about challenges facing the country.

The current system produces a perception among the ignorant majority. Idiotized majority in a way, that these people were made to believe that President is popular based on 1000 respondents representing 91 Million Filipinos, that these people were also given false hopes that for them to climb up out of poverty is fall in line in game show that gives thousand and millions of pesos, that people were given the impression that there is no terrorism despite the beheading of nineteen soldiers in Basilan, and the sporadic ambushes and killings of military personnel and some civilian sympathizers by CPP/NPA/NDF and MILF, that people were made to believe that by watching these giant networks, they can forget the predicaments in their daily lives, that these people made to understand that electing the popular rather that the credible would uplift their lives, that people were given false hope that for them to be Millionaire, they need to bet on LOTTO, while some PSCO officials were using the government funds in a questionable manner as investigated by the Senate in their inquiries, and that these people were blinded in the reality of the “matuwid na daan”, despite the numerous unconstitutional decisions and blunders such as the giving of financial aid to the enemies of the state and the recent railroading of the Corona impeachment.

Those are the only few signs that an idiotized majority exists. I am confident that you can identify additional examples beyond the ones I have mentioned. But the last thing I listed, the Corona impeachment, is quite scary.

Some biased and sponsored media are currently spreading the idea that Corona is a hindrance to national development because he is a puppet of the former administration. But will that be enough to kill him? No, the answer is no. That's why the 188 congressmen who signed the impeachment complaint had eight articles of impeachment. They said that the Chief Justice should be removed from office because he doesn't have the moral authority to lead the judiciary.

I was astonished that the prosecution chose to show Article 2 of the Articles of Impeachment instead of Article 1 during the impeachment trial. The defense team objected, but as usual, the Senate didn't want to hear arguments based on law, logic, and common sense. According to Article 1, the ruling is to keep going with the presentation of evidence and witnesses. Upon presenting these witnesses to the court, it became evident that many senator-judges had lost their objectivity. The first witness, who is the Clerk of Court of the Supreme Court, asked the Supreme Court for permission to turn over the Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN) because there is a resolution in the office where she works that says she can't share the SALN without permission. The Senator-Judges had many arguments that were only meant to underscore the point that the witness had to turn over the SALN. One senator says that the Impeachment Court is significantly better than the Supreme Court when it comes to impeachment trials. Many smart people laughed at the comment. The impeachment trial is filled with comedic moments. Senator Joker Arroyo is the only Senator-Judge I know who is a true statesman. He asked for just one day so that the witness might approach the Supreme Court for permission to avoid a battle royale between the two branches of government. He even showed that there is a petition in the Supreme Court to suspend the impeachment trial since there are a lot of legal issues and arguments. But tragically, his biased coworkers didn't pay attention to this evidence. The prosecution then called several witnesses, and the defense team objected, as they normally do, but the judge always overruled them.

Some critical-thinking Filipinos have observed that the prosecution doesn't seem ready with proof for all the impeachment articles. The clearest sign is that they chose to start with Article 2 instead of Article 1. However, when they presented Article 2, their negligence became apparent. The prosecution team says that this is the first time they have seen the Chief Justice's SALN. These 188 Congressmen signed and swore that the Chief Justice was guilty based on Article 2 of the Articles of Impeachment, which says that

The respondent violated the Constitution and betrayed the public's trust by failing to disclose his assets, debts, and net worth as mandated by Section 17, Article XI of the 1987 Constitution.

How could these 188 congressmen have signed and sworn to this claim when one of them said during the trial that it was the first time they had seen the SALN? Signing the impeachment charge is perjury for these congressmen. It is basic sense that they cannot prove that the Chief Justice did not tell the public about his statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth when they have not seen the Chief Justice's SALN.

Based on the premises mentioned above and the way the prosecution acted in court and in the media, it appears that the person who planned this Corona impeachment affair didn't achieve his real goal. Based on my simple view, the actual goal is not to send Corona to court for impeachment. The person behind this plan didn't anticipate the Chief Justice would fight to the end, but they did want him to step down. They believed that Chief Justice Corona was a weak public servant who would be affected by the numerous media attacks that insulted and misrepresented his family. This is the reason the prosecution employs the devious tactic of summoning the Chief Justice's family as witnesses. They hope that it will make the Chief Justice feel worse and make him resign if he sees his family member being insulted by the prosecution during cross-examination. But it didn't happen; the impeachment court turned down the prosecution's request to summon the Corona family members based on legal principles.

People will clearly see that the prosecution is not prepared for the impeachment trial, as evidenced by the current situation. They mistakenly believe that the Chief Justice will resign due to mental stress and the public humiliation of his name in the media and society. Even before the impeachment trial starts, the big news networks have already found the Chief Justice guilty. The prosecution even paid for private lawyers to work for them. The prosecution is making it very apparent that they don't have the legal tools to hold the Chief Justice accountable.

The impeachment trial raises the question of how the prosecution will handle the damage done by wrongly believing the Chief Justice would resign. Can they find more proof to back up all of the claims made in the eight articles of impeachment? Many questions will come up because of this. The 188 congressmen who are part of the prosecution team were mistaken in getting involved in this impeachment process. Clearly, they are exploiting this process to secure re-election or advancement. We truly don't know what will happen next. For example, there are reports of Jose Maria Sison coming back to our country, rumors of a revolutionary government, proof of a slow communist invasion, the Mindanao sub-state, and so on. But there are no winners in this impeachment trial; everyone loses. The question is who lost the most?

The Filipino people are the biggest losers. Every day, the Filipino people struggle to procure food. But tragically, the bulk of people who are dumb are only amenable to the old saying, It's acceptable. The telenovelas produced by the major networks caused the uninformed majority to wait either a week or a day for the next episode. We don't know what this government will do or what the outcome will be in this CORONAVELA. Filipino fans were merely told to wait and see what would happen. ABANGAN ANG SUSUNOD NA KABANATA…

 

Dr. Rodolfo John Ortiz Teope

National President

1st Philippine Pro-Democracy Foundation, Inc.