‘Not with a bang, but a whimper!’

Nestor Mata

‘That’s how President Noynoy’s band of prosecutors ended their case against Chief Justice Corona on the 26th day of his trial before the Senate impeachment court.’

PRESIDENT Noynoy Aquino’s band of bumbling, stumbling and befuddled prosecutors rested their case on the 26th day of the Corona impeachment trial last week "not with a bang, but a whimper"!

That famous T.S. Elliot quote best described how the panel of congressmen-prosecutors ended their presentation of evidence and witnesses to prove their allegations in the complaint against Chief Justice Renato Corona during his trial before the Senate impeachment court.

What exactly did they accomplish during the past 26 days of the trial? The answer is zilch! Nothing! From the very start, they presented a hastily, poorly crafted and flawed impeachment complaint that was prepared by Malacañang and signed by 188 congressmen, who didn’t bother to read its Articles of Impeachment, for "millions in pork-barrel funds’’ reasons, and dispatched it faster than the legendary "Bicol Express" to the Senate.

Then, during the Senate impeachment court’s proceedings, they submitteddocuments as evidence which turned out to be spurious, lied under oath on how those purloined "pieces of evidence" were obtained, snickered and shielded their ears every time a fiery lady senator hurled verbal volleys against them for "unethical behavior, bad faith, frivolousness," and tested the limits of the Constitution, infringed its doctrines on the rule of law, due process, and the sanctity of constitutional institutions.

They reduced the impeachment complaint’s eight allegations to only three and the number of witnesses from over a 100 down to a little over 20, a surprising move that prompted Presiding-Judge-Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile to admonish them that it may lead to legal complications and technicality. And when they rested their case against Corona and then prematurely proclaimed they had already proven their case against the chief jurist of the Supreme Court, this infuriated the senator-judges.

This prompted Enrile to warn them against claiming they had presented "overwhelming" evidence to convict the chief justice. "You’re putting this court in a very serious predicament… making sweeping pronouncements toconvict Corona!"

They seemed to have overlooked the fact that Corona must have his day in court, and that his defense panel members still have to present their side when the Senate impeachment court proceedings are resumed on Monday, March 12.

Yes, indeed, the impeachment trial of Corona isn’t over yet!

Unlike Corona’s defense panel, composed of a wizened former jurist and other high-caliber, mature, competent lawyers, Aquino’s panel of prosecutors were "a perfect example of ineptitude, immaturity, and stupidity."

One of the of the prosecutors, as we all saw last week, was caught in a silly, contemptible pose during the trial by Senate Pro Tempore and Judge Jinggoy Estrada, who stood up and exclaimed in Tagalog: "Kabastusan yan!" (That’s rudeness!). He saw the prosecutor, one of over 50 private volunteer lawyers in the prosecution panel, covering his ears, and he demanded an explanation for that "offensive gesture."

The offending prosecutor admitted that he purposely covered his ears so as not to hear the "shrill voice" of Senator-Judge Miriam Defensor-Santiago every time she took the floor to lecture them --- the prosecutors --- on the finer points of the laws and rules of court procedures.

The lady senator, known for her spitfire temper, was infuriated when she was told about the offensive gesture of the prosecutor. She exclaimed: "Wha!!!" (The ejaculation is slang for "What!" As in, What!!! ...that’s disrespectful of the court!). And forthwith, she moved, and seconded by Senator-Judge Pia Cayetano, to cite the disrespectful lawyer for "contempt of court." The motion was quickly approved by all their fellow senator-judges, and Senate President-Presiding Judge Enrile ordered the offending lawyer’s detention in a room inside the Senate.

Commenters in the print and broadcast media and in Internet blogs had a field day with this episode which happened soon after the prosecutors rested their case against Corona. They were ridiculed. And they riled the presiding judge and senator-judges with their presumptuous declaration that they had "enough evidence to convict" Corona, even before the completion of the impeachment trial.

Actually, what the prosecution panel did was no different from the oft-repeated statement of President Aquino, who has openly admitted he instigated Corona’s impeachment, that "Corona is guilty" and should therefore be deposed as chief justice of the Supreme Court.

Neither was it any different from the remarks of Aquino’s blabbering mouthpieces that "we have the numbers … we’re doing head counts," inferring that they have enough senator-judges to convict Corona, clearly intended to encourage Noynoy’s political allies among the senator-judges, who have never hesitated in giving a hand to the bumbling, stumbling, and befuddled congressmen-prosecutors during the impeachment proceedings.

They have disrespected not only the Senate impeachment court but also the Supreme Court by discussing the merits out of court, conducting trial by publicity and demonizing Corona, and declaring him guilty.

All of their remarks are really non-sequitur since the Senate impeachment court still has to hear Corona’s battery of defense lawyers, who are determined to prove that the constitutional rights of the top jurist of the land have been infringed, and that the Constitution’s ordained principles of due process and the rule of law have been violated with impunity before and during the impeachment trial.

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Quote of the Day: "We are all under a Constitution, and the Constitution is what the justices say it." --- Charles Evans Hughes

Thought of the Day: "Nothing is as terrible as ignorance in actions, and of the laws." --- Anon.