Let there be light

By the time this column comes out, the House Committee on Justice will be on the verge of doing something that should have happened a long time ago: hearing the first witnesses and examining the first subpoenaed pieces of evidence in the impeachment proceedings against Vice President Sara Duterte.

Among those expected to figure prominently is Ramil Madriaga, her alleged former supporter and bagman, whose claims have been in the news for months. The committee has issued subpoenas to him and for key documents, and the hearing is set to begin with that evidence finally entering the official record.

Surprisingly, for all the noise around Sara Duterte’s impeachment over the past year, this will be the first time many Filipinos will actually get to see the evidence and hear the testimonies in a formal public proceeding. Not spin. Not soundbites. Not spokespersons in press conferences. The actual documents. The actual witnesses. The actual facts, placed where they belong: on the public record.

And if that strikes you as odd, it should. Last year, the impeachment process was effectively smothered before the public could get a real look at the merits. First came the unconscionable delay in the Senate under then Senate President Chiz Escudero, who drew heavy criticism for slow-walking the process for months despite the Constitution’s command that trial proceed “forthwith.”

Then came the Supreme Court ruling that stopped the impeachment on procedural grounds. Crucially, that ruling did not absolve the Vice President on the merits. Though it certainly prevented those merits from being fully aired.

And that is why today’s hearing in the House matters.

Sara Duterte’s camp has plainly understood what is at stake. In the past two weeks alone, her side and her supporters have filed multiple petitions before the Supreme Court asking it to stop the House proceedings and issue a temporary restraining order.

So far, that prayer has not been granted, and legal observers have noted that the grounds they rely on are shaky. Still, stranger things have happened, and until the gavel falls and the hearing actually begins, one can understand why many are holding their breath.

Because let us be honest. If the Vice President’s camp were truly confident that the evidence would clear her, why this level of desperation to keep it from public view? Why the relentless effort to stop the House from even looking at the documents it has subpoenaed? Why the constant procedural shenanigans every time the discussion threatens to move from abstract arguments to concrete facts?

For more than a year now, the Filipino public has been asked to accept one claim or another on faith. That the charges are baseless. That the witnesses are weak. That the evidence is flimsy. Fine. Then let the public see it. Let the witnesses testify. Let the records be presented. Let the Filipino people judge for themselves.

That is all this moment really asks. Not a conviction in advance. Not mob judgment. Just a little light so that everyone can see the truth.

After everything that has happened, that small glimmer of sunlight is long overdue.