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Ally Hoop

IF YOU CANNOT prevent the truth from getting out into the open court, move instead to eliminate judges that may likely vote for the truth.

Despite the official rationale that the defense broadcasted in its move to oust Senator Franklin Drinlon as a senator-judge in the CJ Corona Impeachment Trial, it is obvious that the hidden motive is to bring down the percentage of potential votes towards the truth that may be adverse to the interest of their client, Chief Justice Renato Corona. It is a number's game. The required minimum voters to affirm the Article 2, which is 16, will not be met. And their chance increases with one judge out.

The defensive move once again telegraphs their fear to get the truth of the complaint out into the open. If the fear among the defense team advocates exist, then truth may not be on their side. And the Filipino people know exactly what they are up to.

And yet again they have to realize that the rules of judicial court does not apply in the impeachment court. As is already obvious in Day 6 and 7, senator-judges have the right to cross examine witnesses in order to ferret out the truth. Senator Drilon did so alone. The same thing was done by Senator Ralph Recto, which helped clarify the confusion over the Alpha List. And that clarification resulted to the eventual presentation of the Coronal family lists for marking.

Are they thinking then that after Senator Drilon inhibits, they would do the same on Senator Recto? The absurdity of this move, tastes of desperation and the committment to avoid getting the truth out at whatever cost.

There is one thing that the defense team should not underestimate. The senator-judges have their own brilliant minds to depend on in sifting through this tactic. Their responsibility before the Filipino people to uncover the truth behind the allegations under Article 2 weighs more than the manipulative wiles of the defense.

At the end of the day, the senator-judges will be haunted not by the arguments of the defense but by how far they were able to ferret out the truth in this political exercise. And they are answerable to the people on that. The outcome of this impeachment trial will determine how strong the Philippine judiciary become. If Corona is guilty as charged but the the impeachment court failed to bring that out, the people will know when their senators failed in their responsibility of defending one public institution--the Supreme Court and the courts beneath it. The people will know; and they will hold them accountable for that.
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