How much of me am I willing to reveal? How much do you want me to?

I wrote this piece during the height of the impeachment proceedings. My stint as legal researcher for Laguna 2nd District Congressman Justin “Timmy” Chipeco of the opposition opened my already passive and apathetic thoughts on anything that concerns politics. The reader would notice a stark difference from my previous article previously posted in this archive. Better late than never. The pseudo-dictator’s days are numbered. Read on:

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I went to law school with no motivation whatsoever but a film called Legally Blonde. Sa tingin ng karamihan, Elle Woods is nothing but “a dumb blonde who feasts on daddy’s plastic”, sabi nga ng isang mapangmatang saleslady sa part 1. Being the heroine, of course we viewers expected more of her. She was a freshman and by technicality, she became a student attorney, who, by a stroke of luck, won a case.

In part 2 she got fired for believing in something outrageous. She nevertheless bravely showed that she has to be heard. Isang parang napakasimple at para ring napakawalang kwentang bagay, she successfully drafted into a bill amidst challenges of people pulling her down. And of course, like in part 1, with the help of luck on her side, she was able to charm her way into getting the number of votes she needed to win.

Pero ang hirap palang magpretend na ikaw si Elle Woods at ang buhay ay parang Legally Blonde. May Emmett nga ako pero nasa kabilang law school at commitment phobic siya unlike Elle’s beau. Napanood natin si Elle na nagbabasa ng deposition ng cases ng 20x! E yung mga reading assignments nga, hindi pa umaabot sa 70% ang natatapos ko at laging kailangan kong magdasal para hindi ako matawag.

Sa ngayon, nagtatrabaho ako sa House of Representatives. At lalong akala ko, nag-increase ang feeling ko na Legally Blonde ang buhay, except for the technicality na dark brown ang kulay ng buhok ko. At ito na nga ang kaso ni President Gloria Arroyo. Everybody knows three impeachment complaints were sent and verified to the House Secretary-General so she could be tried for mainly for an impeachable offense - violation of public trust.

In the past, I was apathetic to such proceedings. Hanggang salita lang ako. Ang emosyon ko lang ang pinanghahawakan ko kapag nakikipagdebate ako. Pero ngayon, iba ang feeling. Iba talaga pag nalalaman mo ang batas. Iba talaga kapag alam mo na literally and technically involved ka most especially sa impeachment proceeding.

While monitoring the hearings in the Plenary Hall, I took note of the issues. Chronologically, ang issue na pinagdebatehan ay una, when is an impeachment initiated? Hindi ba malinaw sa Constitution, correct me if I’m wrong, that the one-year bar refers to the impeachment proceeding which is initiated when the complaint is endorsed and referred to the Justice Committee?

Second issue, kung alin talaga ang naunang tanggapin ng Secretary General. One pro-impeachment congressman thought it very much absurd that on that fateful day of July 25, impeachment endorsers would camp out of the Secretary-General’s office just to make sure their version will be the one to be deliberated on.

And third issue, does the amended complaint supercede the original? My Crim prof, Ibarra Gutierrez III, who happens to be one of the legal counsels of the amended Lozano complaint, explained that according to the Rules of Court, the amended can, indeed, replace or substitute for the original. Anyway, it is the same Atty. Lozano of UP who is the author and main petitioner of such complaint. Dinagdagan lang ng ground which is considered to be not in conflict with the original grounds; that, in fact, the three impeachment complaints could be consolidated.

While typing this, hindi pa rin tapos ang botohan sa Kongreso. 40+ pa lang ang bumoboto against the Committee on Justice report. Nakakarindi na ang pinagsasabi ng magkabilang panig. Paulit-ulit, wala namang nakikinig.

Again in the past and in the most recent past which includes news of the Hello Garci tapes, I normally would have supported Gloria Arroyo simply due to the fact that I believed she deserved a chance. She was the best, at least for me.

Now I think and firmly feel and believe she deserves a day in court. Most recently, when the pro-impeachment bloc convened for a symposium in College of Public Administration, I asked the congressmen present, namely Congressmen Sonny Angara, Rolex Suplico and Justin Chipeco (my boss), that since their voices were being suppressed by the Justice Committee led by its very biased Chairman Simeon Datumanong and since parliamentary procedure rules were being violated (I should know, I took the subject parliamentary procedure as a Speech Communication undergrad), why shouldn’t they take the case to the Supreme Court for grave abuse of discretion on the part of said committee. My boss and Suplico reacted as if it was something they have never thought of. Unfortunately, Angara, who responded to my question answered flatly that it was a political question and that Supreme Court will never deal with it. Sayang, I thought. UP Law graduate pa naman siya. Hindi ba sa UP, itinuturo ng mga Constitution professors na in many Supreme Court cases, the justices upheld their jurisdiction over certain cases if, according to Sec. 1, Article VIII of the 1987 Constitution, there exists what amounts to grave abuse of discretion? And kagabi, habang tuwang-tuwa akong barado to the point na napapaamin sa sariling flaws sina Congressmen Datumanong and Villafuerte kay Chiz Escudero, nagsalita si Cayetano. And I heard the very words I explained in the symposium…Stroke of luck? Maybe. But not quite.

As of 1:17 pm, the vote is 140-43 in favor of those who support the Justice Committee report.

How ironic isn’t it? Justice Committee…Justice…asan ang hustisya? Will we just accept that these congressmen are clearly twisted in words and deeds? They owe to us, their constituents, their days of corruption in Congress. They must pay their dues now and as soon as possible.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 31st, 2005 at 2:14 am and is filed under Current Affairs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.