Presiding officer needs iron will

Presiding officer needs iron will | Daily Tribune

This early, forces seeking to divide the nation are moving to take advantage of the imminent Senate impeachment court proceedings to sow discord and reap its fruits for their advantage.

Groups affiliated with the discredited yellow mob and the communist destabilizers are regrouping to pressure the Senate into starting the proceedings against Vice President Sara Duterte soonest.

Legal sage Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Juan Ponce Enrile said the real danger is in the potential of the impeachment trial being hijacked by opportunistic groups.

Enrile, the presiding officer in the Senate trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona in 2011-2012, dissected the key allegations against VP Sara Duterte and their likely implications in the simmering political cauldron.

In a late-night online press conference on 23 November 2024, VP Duterte intoned: “Pag pinatay ako, patayin mo si BBM, si Liza Araneta, at si Martin Romualdez (If I’m killed, finish off BBM, Liza Araneta, and Martin Romualdez). No joke, no joke.”

Enrile said VP Duterte’s statement has serious underlying implications since it carries the key elements of a criminal case, in Latin: “Actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea,” or in English, “In every crime, there must be a ‘guilty act’ and a ‘guilty mind.’”

In VP Duterte’s statement, the guilty act is the command: “patayin mo si BBM, si Liza Araneta, at si Martin Romualdez.” While the guilty mind is to avenge Sara’s killing, should it happen.

Together, it means that should there be an attempt on VP Duterte’s life even if it does not succeed, “BBM, Liza and Martin would be the immediate and direct suspects, even though they may be innocent, which would further widen the political disruption between the two sides.”

Evil and vicious third parties “could merrily take advantage of the situation and weaken, if not destroy, the two sides of the political divide.”

Enrile said that some ambitious members of each political group could take advantage of it to strengthen and promote their interests, whatever they may be.

He pointed out that no criminal charge could be filed at this time against VP Duterte for her statement “because it is conditional.” But he said that care must be taken by both sides to prevent “evil third parties from taking advantage of it for their personal benefit, whatever these are.”

Enrile cautioned the nation about the unfolding drama and the true intentions of those working behind the scenes to use it as an opportunity to divide the country and reap the harmful consequences.

During the Corona trial, Enrile, the presiding officer, fired off a warning against opportunistic forces, saying that it would only be the senator judges who would render a verdict and no one else.

Enrile’s warning came following the incessant barrage of comments by the prosecutors and their allies that the evidence would lead to the conviction of Corona.

Designated prosecutors in VP Duterte’s trial have been making the rounds of the media regarding the impeachment trial, in a reprise of the trial of Corona.

This is faithful to the trial by publicity that Noynoy and his allies launched following the railroading of Corona’s impeachment at the House of Representatives.

Enrile then repulsed the efforts in the impeachment court to demonize Corona instead of establishing his guilt based on the articles of impeachment.

He warned then that he would not stand for a public lynching of Corona and that he would not hesitate to resign as presiding officer of the Senate court if it was used to set up the Chief Justice for a public shaming.

Enrile said disrespecting the impeached official at the trial was tantamount to dishonoring the country and the Constitution.

Now, the nation is about to undergo the process again, and the presiding officer needs to have the same confidence and will as Enrile did to protect the integrity of the Senate court.