The gavel of Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang slammed hard last Friday during the arraignment of House Majority Leader Rolando Andaya Jr. for his involvement in the P900-million Malampaya fund scam. Her annoyance was evident in view of the malicious comments made by Andaya on the supposed timing of the hearing.

To backtrack, Andaya suggested politics as to the odd timing of his arraignment for 97 counts each for graft and corruption on a live TV interview. For precision, Andaya specifically said “nice timing.”

As a lawyer himself, Andaya should have known better and was probably advised later on that he should not have used his head before speaking, although his past actions have not shown the same. Perhaps he also thought little of the Sandiganbayan justices, hoping perhaps that they would get wind of his dumb statement. He was, of course, mistaken.

Like a scene from a Hollywood courtroom drama, Andaya stood before a Division of Justices and was humiliated on the spot. Justice Cabotaje-Tang, the highest magistrate of the Sandiganbayan, delivered the opening blow, “You mentioned your arraignment being ‘nice timing’ today.”

The court audience knew that they were in for a treat.

The good Justice continued, “In resolving cases, the court will never be swayed by external factors like politics. In fact, the court is apolitical. You may disagree with our resolutions, but you have remedies. Please avail of that. Do not try to attribute anything to the court if you are not satisfied.”

Everybody present cringed in discomfort.

Andaya, being the thick-faced politician that he is, acknowledged the beating and did not put up a fight. He replied, “I do apologize if it sent the wrong message. It won’t happen again. I will be more careful.”

Seemingly sincere, but let’s not be fooled. Andaya acted like a puppy dog since he was in need of something — a postponement of his arraignment due to a pending motion to quash. And he got this. The court agreed to reset his arraignment to 28 February.

Andaya may have survived to live another day in court and pushed back his arraignment for another month, but he may have used up all of his nine lives in the courtroom.

And may we ask, how was yours? Did you ram against one of the President’s top guns and upped the ante by holding hearings to further your baseless allegations against him? Did you plead before your counterparts in the Senate on your stance on the Road Board abolition after you were dropped by the President? Did you file a petition for mandamus before the Supreme Court — one that is bound to be rendered moot and academic? And, finally, were you scolded in front of a packed audience in the courtroom by one of the country’s highest justices? It was colorful, at best, for Andaya. And we wonder how he can retain that smirk on his face. Perhaps, Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno is correct in recently saying that he has “gone really mad.”

Don’t get Diokno wrong as he has basis in saying that. What impelled Diokno was Andaya’s allegation that the Budget chief has transformed the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) into a “super bidding body” as it has consolidated bidding of government contracts to a single department. This laughable accusation has raised eyebrows on those knowledgeable on procurement, since it is not DBM that conducts bidding, but the Procurement Service, and this finds basis in Procurement Law (RA 9184), Letter of Instruction 755 and Executive Order 359. This explains why all government employees are issued exactly the same pen. Maybe Andaya has not received his? Can one of his staff hand him one, please.

It is how the week ended that is most significant for Andaya. He may have gotten away muscling against Diokno, effectively rousing all the other Cabinet secretaries, and botching the 2019 budget — good thing we do not have a government shutdown, like in the US. Andaya can easily get the good graces of the Senate, though these senators are seasoned politicians and only put their best political-foot forward. But Andaya could not, and should not, take the Sandiganbayan lightly, which he seemingly did. Now, he is going against both the Executive and Judiciary.

Come to think of it, what could be the reason for his brazen actions? It is doubtful that all this has the clearance of his boss, Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, since the President himself dropped him in favor of Diokno. Could be it all guns blazing on the national level, since he is said to be destined to lose on the local level? We can expect more in the coming weeks from Andaya — more that will convince us of Diokno’s suspicion that he has indeed gone bat-crazy mad.