THE IMPEACHMENT OF VP Sara Duterte is a fitting democratic procedure called for under the Ph Constitution and the Rule of Law. With the Impeachment Court composed of the senator-judges in good standing and physically present to listen to the evidence and arguments presented by the prosecution and defense teams, the people expect only a transparent and fair end-result: the conviction or acquittal of VP Sara Duterte of her alleged crimes against the people, as she has been holding the second highest public position in the government bureaucracy.
In this regard, the people serve in a special way as the eagle-eyed watchdog of the proceedings not only by those personally present at the Senate Hall, but also and more especially by the people nationwide watching the live-streamed court proceedings on TV. The people will give particular attention on how the senator-judges will be performing as they watch and listen to the evidences being presented by the prosecution team and how the defense team will offer their counter-arguments.
As can be expected, the people will give special attention to the presiding senator-judge, Chiz Escudero, to competently and fairly steer the presentations and discussions on the floor.
As live-streamed on TV, the people also expect that the senator-judges will act with the appropriate decorum, and not with how on certain session-days in the past, they blurted out stupid irrelevant remarks or comments, unbecoming of their stature as official representatives of the people. The senator-judges are expected on the Impeachment Court to be actively involved with relevant questions or comments on the floor, conscious of truly serving the best interests of the people, and working seriously for a fair end-result of the trial of VP Sara Duterte.
POLITICAL UNDERTONES
While the people are aware and expect the impeachment proceedings to be colored with political undertones, given that the senator-judges are affiliated with certain political groups or have been identified with particular political leanings, the people obviously expect that they will shed off their biased views, and will listen and act with an impartial and objective stance at the proceedings. In other words, the senator-judges will competently and transparently sift the presentations into what are considered garbage and not believable, and what are genuinely believable and valid for consideration in their decision-making.
As senator-judges, they are bound by the people basically to listen with undivided attention and act with dignity and integrity during the proceedings.
Moreover, the senator-judges are expected to be intelligent and responsible enough to have been fully watchful and conscious of the past months’ political and economic ongoings.
More specifically, they should have observed that the people in their thousands and millions have mobilized in the streets clamoring for the administration and government officials to end the corruption in many of the government agencies, the decades-long poverty, injustices against activists, and other varied problems impacting on the millions of Filipinos, and more pointedly, for “litisin na si VP Sara Duterte!”
SERVE THE PEOPLE
Indeed, the senator-judges are the in the limelight today in the eyes of the people, as they only expect that the final outcome of the trial of VP Sara Duterte will have been based on the truth and attainment of justice for the Filipino people.
While holding such a sacred duty and powerful responsibility as senator-judges, they cannot afford to be inattentive, or act stupidly or talk just to delay the process, or even disrupt the proceedings. In fact, they are obligated by their mandate under the Constitution, to serve the people, to be circumspect, to decide with integrity and truly serve the ends of JUSTICE!