Political gadfly Barry Gutierrez has spent years navigating the crossroads of law, politics and public communication. A lawyer, legal analyst, DAILY TRIBUNE columnist, and former spokesman for then-Vice President Leni Robredo, Gutierrez has become one of the more recognizable voices interpreting the constitutional and political crises that have repeatedly gripped the country.
Behind the legal jargon and constitutional debates lies a lawyer who insists that ordinary Filipinos deserve explanations they can understand and a political system that makes sense.
Appearing on DAILY TRIBUNE'S Straight Talk, Gutierrez offered legal analysis of the Senate leadership conflict and the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, and a broader reflection on the state of Philippine democracy.
Historically, he noted, the Supreme Court has exercised restraint in intervening in disputes involving internal matters of Congress.
“The Supreme Court has been very careful in intervening in matters that are internal to the political branches of government,” he said, citing the landmark Avelino vs Cuenco case. “The Senate should resolve its own internal matters.”
With Sen. Win Gatchalian eventually securing 13 votes and assuming the Senate presidency, Gutierrez believes the issue has effectively become moot.
“The election by 13 senators of Senator Win Gatchalian as not just acting but as full-fledged Senate president is likely the development the Supreme Court will use to avoid directly ruling on the issue,” he said.
Gutierrez rejected the notion that Malacañang had dictated the outcome of the Senate leadership battle. However, he acknowledged that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s call for a special session helped bring matters to a head.
“I won’t say that this is the executive interfering to decide the outcome of a Senate vote,” he said. “But it is the executive stepping in to provide a venue so that the senators can once and for all settle the matter in an open vote.”
He pointed out that senators aligned with Senator Alan Peter Cayetano had skipped sessions because they knew they no longer commanded majority support.
“They knew that in an open session where all of them would be present, they would not have the votes to sustain Senator Alan Peter Cayetano’s leadership of the Senate,” he said.
The necessity of resolving the scandal
Among the issues Gutierrez said deserve continued public scrutiny are the allegations surrounding the flood control controversy.
Referring to the political significance of Sen. Joel Villanueva’s decisive support for Gatchalian, Gutierrez said the public should closely watch how investigations proceed.
“That’s a story that deserves further inquiry,” he said. “The public is expecting that if charges are filed, he will be one of the persons likely to be charged.”
He added that any indications that political concessions influenced investigations would undermine public trust.
“That raises questions on the credibility of the entire investigative process in relation to flood control,” he said.
Gutierrez described the prospect of multiple senators facing arrest or detention while serving as senator-judges in an impeachment court as “uncharted terrain.”
“The framers never imagined a situation where we might have as many as nine senators arrested, detained, fleeing justice or otherwise unable to participate,” he observed.
The issue, he said, extends beyond impeachment and touches other constitutional functions requiring two-thirds votes, including declarations of war.
“This is really uncharted territory,” he said. “And discussion will take up so much of the time in the next few weeks.”
For Gutierrez, impeachment has always been inherently political.
Quoting the late Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago, he noted that impeachment is both quasi-judicial and quasi-political.
“I think it leans more towards being quasi-political under the surface,” he said. “An impeachment trial will always be largely decided by the politics of the senator-judges who participate in it.”
Still, politics should not eclipse fairness.
“Even if at the end of the day they vote according to whatever their political leanings may be, we have to remember that those political interests historically have also been influenced by the quality of the evidence that came out in these trials,” he said.
He cited the impeachment trial of the late former Chief Justice Renato Corona, in which evidence and courtroom developments shifted senators’ attitudes.
“The best that we can hope for is that politics still reflects the quality of the evidence that actually comes out in the impeachment,” he said.
Gutierrez expressed openness to having a non-lawyer preside over the impeachment trial.
“I’m a lawyer, but I don’t think it must be a lawyer who presides,” he said.
as presiding officer
The proceedings, he argued, need not resemble a highly technical courtroom.
“Maybe we should have rulings based on common sense determinations because I think ultimately that’s more relatable,” he said. “Rather than dwelling on technicalities, let’s focus on getting the truth out.”
Gutierrez did not hide his frustration with the quality of political leadership.
“If you elect clowns, expect a circus,” he remarked.
Yet he tempered his criticism with a reminder that democracy ultimately reflects voters’ choices.
“In a democracy, you get the government you deserve simply because the people choose,” he said.
Challenge before Win
Gutierrez believes the election of Senator Win Gatchalian provides an opportunity to restore order after weeks of instability.
“The recent vote is a good start because it lays to rest any lingering doubts as to who is actually in charge,” he said.
But the real challenge, he added, lies ahead.
“The new leadership has to show that it can act like the adult in the room,” he said.
More than anything, Gutierrez said, the Senate needs to restore calm and professionalism.
“Win Gatchalian has to demonstrate that he can be the leader that we need at the moment — the leader who can once again reassert a sense of calm and professionalism and get the Senate to move forward,” he said.
For a lawyer who once stood at the center of partisan battles as the spokesperson for Vice President Leni Robredo, Barry Gutierrez now finds himself in a different role: interpreter, critic and educator.
And amid the noise and polarization, his message remains remarkably simple: Inject common sense into politics.
“Rather than dwelling on the technicalities, let’s focus on getting the truth out.”