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Friday, March 2, 2012

An embarrassment to the Philippines and the Filipino people

Impeachment trivia
Dahli Aspillera

‘It is likely that her vitriolic diatribes in the impeachment court will come about in the International Court, making her an embarrassment to the Philippines and the Filipino people.’

SENATOR Miriam Defensor Santiago has been into hair-raising lectures at the impeachment trial. As senator-judge, her choice of words in her outbursts is lacking in ethics and abusive for finely-tuned ears. The other day, Wednesday, I wrote the following on Santiago’s reprove of what she calls her colleagues’ soliloquy:

"‘Right’ and ‘wrong’ (just like ‘good’ and ‘bad’) are unqualifiable and cannot be quantified; politics is but impression; interpretations of laws vary from court to court; judges can only be as objective as their biases will allow; constitutionalists are imperfect fallible humans too.

"So, who is so audacious as to claim to be situated so high up in the intellectual stratosphere? None dare dispute one who is too magniloquent about his/her righteousness. There comes an age in the life of the most learned when the axions and dendrites randomly do not connect (at that undetected early offshoot of Alzheimer’s). This peculiar brain quirk is more evident to the listener than to the speaker.

"Hamlet, alone in a space, thinking to himself, vocally expressing his despondency, addressing no one, and out-of-hearing of anyone, he commences a soliloquy… ‘To be or not to be, that is the question….’

"The impeachment trial room is packed full of audience, all ears, with tens of millions at the other end of the audiovisual camera. None in the defense, prosecution, senator-judges is into soliloquy. They utter thousands of words addressed to an audience. The impeachment trial is a performance in monologue.

"A very expensive performance for Juan Pasan Cruz, but worth the money to guarantee a more efficient eye-cover for the Lady with the Scale."

The same day that my above commentary was published, Santiago delivered another of her vitriolics. Private Prosecutor Vitaliano Aguirre who was there in court could not take Santiago’s shrill loquacity. Aguirre, in self-preservation, cupped his hands to his ears to drown out Santiago’s shrill. An act for which he got a standing ovation from those in the Prosecution room, but also got a contempt of court from the presiding officer of the trial.

Santiago having called her co-lawyers "gago" later said: "I am too old at 67 to take the incident with Private Prosecutor Aquirre personally." Gago is personal enough. It’s a wonder why, at that old age, Santiago is unable to suppress her high strung moods and temper and tongue.

As I write this today, Thursday, listeners are texting in to Radyo5 hundreds of comments and my telephones have not stopped ringing with opinions on Santiago’s insulting lectures to lawyers and Aguirre self-defense.

The public’s messages to Santiago on Radyo5 yesterday morning: Respect is earned--you are disrespectful but demand respect in return. Your words are unrefined, rude. Your shrill high decibel voice hurts the ears. You demean your profession by lambasting lawyers. You are so hyper. You are so unlady-like, unlawyer-like. Akala mo ang galing-galing mo. It is unbelievable that you can use assaulting words on lawyers with as much if not more intellect than yourself. Para kang palengkerang lasing. The people you are insulting are more virtuous than yourself. Ang mga lumalabas sa bunganga ni Santiago ay mga salitang hindi makain ni ng aso (words coming out of Santiago’s mouth can gag even a dog). Sobra ang pagbabastos, she mistakenly thinks that those before her who have taken the same degree as she had are stupido, tanga, at bobo. The senator should think before opening her mouth. Does she ever pause to ask herself: will it hurt, demean, degrade.

Lawyers in the impeachment court are getting a sermon whenever Santiago is around. Another would have stood up, and holler at Santiago, Ah… shut up. Through such lectures, I would have taken out a pillow and blanket and lied down on a table in the court room and started snoring.

Many texters are fearful that Santiago’s vitriolic diatribes in Philippine courts will be repeated in the International Court, making her an embarrassment to the Philippines and the Filipino people.

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