The Corona Impeachment Trial: Prosecution Incompetence

The House majority apparently believes Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas, Jr. is doing okay in heading the prosecution in the impeachment trial of Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona.

The viewing public doesn't agree.

In the six short days of the impeachment trial, Rep. Tupas has already been castigated by Senate President and impeachment court presiding officer Juan Ponce Enrile and Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago, and has been thoroughly schooled by defense lawyer and retired Associate Justice Serafin Cuevas.

One of Rep. Tupas' lowest moments was when he called upon the court to be more "liberal" and "flexible" in enforcing the rules of the trial. In what is probably one of the more memorable moments of the trial, Sen. Enrile,deadpan, pointedly asked Rep. Tupas if he was suggesting that the court "entertain hearsay questions? ... argumentative questions? ... hypothetical questions? ... leading questions, teaching the witness what to say?" To which, Rep. Tupas could not give any clear explanation of what he meant by "liberal" and "flexible".

Rep. Tupas was also ripped by Senator Defensor-Santiago because he couldn't say how many witnesses the prosecution was going to present.

I rarely agree with Philippine Star columnist Alex Magno in political matters, but his take on the bungling of the prosecution is spot-on. Opines Magno,

"They clearly did not expect to actually sit through a trial. They expected that a rushed impeachment complaint, signed by overeager congressmen even as it was still being written out, combined with a massive propaganda effort aiming to humiliate the Chief Justice, will be quick and easy.

"They expected a repeat of the triumphant blitz that took out Merceditas Gutierrez. That did not happen, as we know, even as administration spokesman continued holding to the hope a sustained campaign of demonization might still work some magic.

"Now they have to do what they can in a terrain where rules on evidence matter. There is a price to pay for a strategy driven by political arrogance and weighed down by hubris. It is always the prosecution that carries the burden of proof, a load made heavier by a flawed political strategy."

Pro-Aquino Philippine Star columnist William Esposo is livid with Rep. Tupas' apparent incompetence. He says,

"It should have been the task of Tupas to argue and sell the liberal parameters on evidence. Tupas hardly made any effort to do that. Instead, Tupas delved into matters that were off tangent, or of little importance to the prosecution cause. He appeared to be a babe in the woods — exposed as a legal chick competing with legal eagles. It would not surprise your Chair Wrecker if Tupas raised the blood pressure of many folks who followed the impeachment trial in real time on broadcast media.

"It’s bad enough that Tupas was operating like a kid’s prattle — he committed the mortal sin of not recognizing that Senator-Judge Santiago had inadvertently won the prosecution’s pleadings for a liberal interpretation of the rules. He should have kept his mouth shut after Santiago established the parameters for the tribunal. Oh no! Tupas just had to grab the microphone again and subsequently made the monumental blunder of antagonizing JPE by making it appear that JPE was making things hard for the prosecution to introduce evidence.

"When JPE asked Tupas for specific guidelines on how the Presiding Officer could be more liberal, Tupas could not offer any specific suggestion. JPE asked Tupas if he wants the Presiding Officer to admit hearsay, allow argumentative cross-examination of witnesses and so forth — Tupas said no. Now what do you call a man who asks for something that’s important and vital to his cause and could not exactly describe what it is exactly that he wanted?"

What indeed?

It was arrogant of the congressmen led by Rep. Tupas to think that they could force Chief Justice Corona to resign. They should have accounted for that possibility, and did their homework to prepare for what appears to be a drawn-out battle. Now, their ineptitude, especially Rep. Tupas', is on display for all Filipinos to see.

As I have said in the past, and will probably keep on saying, I don't believe that Chief Justice Corona is fit to hold his current position, having been the recipient of a submissive Supreme Court ruling that allowed his midnight appointment, but, if he is to be removed from office, let it be done properly, and not be railroaded through. Otherwise, the quest against corruption will simply be viewed as a political vendetta. The fact that the prosecution team appears incompetent is not helping the case against Chief Justice Corona; it just magnifies the flaws in their strategy.

"Tuwid na Daan"? Ask Ronald Llamas

It's difficult for Filipinos to believe in the President's call for "tuwid na daan" (straight road) when he himself doesn't observe it.

When asked about the controversy involving his political adviser, Ronald Llamas, who was witnessed buying pirated DVDs by a reporter from Bandila, President Noynoy Aquino said that Llamas could've been just "passing by". President Aquino also said that the issue involving Llamas was not his priority.

Of course, Llamas was already involved in a previous controversy, when his bodyguards, who figured in a car accident in Quezon City, were caught with a high-powered assault rifle; Llamas, though, was not present during that time. Even then, President Aquino was not concerned about his adviser, and police eventually cleared Llamas but charged his bodyguards with illegal possession of firearms.

However, in this case, Llamas was caught red-handed buying P2,000 worth of pirated DVDs, and yet the President decides to look the other way. What's infuriating about this is that he's pulling all the stops in trying to nail down former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona, but when it's one of his own people, the President doesn't even lift a finger.

Admittedly, buying pirated DVDs in this country is not a crime; in the Inquirer news story about Llamas' purchase, Optical Media Board chairman Ronnie Ricketts concedes that "the government could not do anything about it when someone—even a Palace official—buys pirated DVDs because the country’s antipiracy law imposes no penalty on the customer." However, Llamas' actions sets a bad example for an administration whose main pillar is fighting against corruption. The President's apparent abetting of Llamas sends the wrong message to the people.

More than ever, the favoritism being played by the President is a rude awakening for the millions who voted for him, expecting that he would do what he can in fighting corruption. Like the pigs in George Orwell's "Animal Farm", the President is no better than the corrupt administration that he espouses to punish.

If the President has any sense of propriety, he should ask Llamas to step down and appoint someone who is more conscious of following the "tuwid na daan". In fact, Llamas shouldn't wait for that, and simply resign, to spare his boss any further embarassment.

Weekend Movie Marathon

It's been a while since I was able to watch movies on consecutive nights, so it was a bit surprising to realize that, over this long weekend, my family and I were able to catch three movies on three consecutive nights. While it's a bit of a drain on the budget, I'd say the movies were worth it. Here they are, in order:

1. Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked (Friday)

This one is primarily for the kids, and they enjoyed the whole show. For the adults, there are moments, but, otherwise, it's best to park one's brain at the door, and just go with the flow. Admittedly, I'm particularly attached to Theodore's cuteness.

2. Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows (Saturday)

While I wasn't able to watch the first movie, I don't think I missed much, as director Guy Ritchie quickly brought viewer up to speed on this tongue-in-cheek take on the great detective. Robert Downey Jr., is hilariously manic as Sherlock Holmes, and Jude Law plays a refreshingly dapper Dr. Watson. Downey and Law play off each other so smoothly, that the partnership is believable and entertaining. The story is also quite good, as it pits Holmes against his archenemy Dr. Moriarty, and the twists and turns, as well as the breathtaking action scenes, do justice to Conan Doyle's creation.

3. We Bought A Zoo (Sunday)

With a lot of action movies abounding, it was fairly easy to get good seats to this dramedy even fifteen minutes before the showtime. Based on a true story, the movie focuses on a family dealing with a tragic loss. Writer Benjamin Mee, played by Matt Damon, decides that he and his two children need a change of atmosphere, and, during his hunt for a new house, winds up buying a zoo along with the house. The movie chronicles his misadventures and missteps, and the lessons he learns along the way. The result is an inspiring, touching, and often funny, movie.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Today marks the Chinese New Year, as people over the world celebrate the incoming of the year of the Water Dragon. To believers of Chinese astrology, the year of the Dragon is an auspicious year, a year of great fortune or disaster. Here's hoping that this year will have more of the former than the latter.

So, whether it's "Kung Hei Fat Choy" (Cantonese), "Kiong Hee Huat Tsai" (Hokkien), or "Gong Xi Fa Cai" (Mandarin)", I'd like to wish one and all peace and prosperity for the year of the Dragon. Happy Chinese New Year!

NBA Fantasy Basketball: Injuries Galore

It's almost four weeks into the shortened NBA season, and the injuries have been piling up, making life both interesting and difficult for fantasy basketball enthusiasts such as myself.

The lack of a proper training period before the season began (thanks to both the owners' and players' intransigence) has ensured that not everybody is really ready for the season. As a result, a whole host of injuries hitting both stars and average players alike.

In our long-running faculty league, I've already had injuries to Zach Randolph (Memphis, torn knee ligament), Corey Maggette (Charlotte, strained hamstring), Derrick Rose (Chicago, sprained toe), Rodney Stuckey (Detroit, groin), and Vince Carter (Dallas, sprained foot). Of these, I've already let go of Randolph and Maggette, and I'm still hoping the others will come back soon. Actually, Stuckey's already playing, but not at the level he was last year; he's still feeling that groin injury, which hampers his play.

As it is, I've had to retool my lineup with players such as Luke Ridnour (Minnesota), Ian Mahinmi (Dallas), Nate Robinson (Golden State) and Marreese Speights (Memphis), players who were undrafted, but now are valuable because they're either filling in for injured players, or they're playing better than expected.  One of the difficulties of our league is that almost everybody guards the free agent pool with a passion, and, as soon as any player starts playing with any degree of consistency, he's quickly snatched up; one has to be quick on the trigger to get a good player.

At least, I'm not alone. My fellow managers are also dealing with various injuries. In fact, one can build an All-Star lineup with the various injured players:


PG - Chris Paul (LA Clippers), Rajon Rondo (Boston), Dwayne Wade (Miami), Baron Davis (New York)
SG - Manu Ginobili (San Antonio), Eric Gordon (New Orleans), Kobe Bryant (LA Lakers)
SF - Michael Beasley (Minnesota), Corey Maggette (Charlotte)
PF - Al Horford (Atlanta), Zach Randolph (Memphis)
C - Brook Lopez (New Jersey), Nene Hilario (Denver)


It also doesn't help that, with the shortened season, there are stretches wherein teams play three games on consecutive nights. Unless coaches are careful, more players will probably succumb to some injury or the other, and will have to make decisions on whether to play through the pain or submit to being shelved for surgery or rehab.

On the fantasy side, one has to be adept and flexible in order to deal with the slew of injuries; otherwise, it's going to be a long season.

The Corona Impeachment Trial: Musings on the First Week

With one week of the impeachment trial of Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona over, political pundits have been commenting left and right on the merits of the case, as well as the performance of the key players: the prosecution, the defense, and the Senate-judges. The following points appear to be the common ones:

1. The prosecution needs to do its homework. Despite the fact that the House prosecutors are all lawyers, it's clear that they've spent more time in the political arena than the legal one. On day one of the trial, they were caught unprepared to present their witnesses or their evidence, since they apparently did not realize that the articles of impeachment would be tackled in the order by which they were filed. I can't help but feel that, after transmitting the articles of impeachment to the Senate, the House prosecutors thought that the whole trial would be a walk in the park, hence, their unpreparedness. Hopefully, they've learned their lessons, and, chastened, will be better prepared for the following week.

2. The defense is focused on the legalities of the impeachment. This was clear when the defense lawyers, led by retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Serafin Cuevas, tried to hold a preliminary hearing, the subject of which, if I recall, was the verification of the articles by the House members who signed them. Much has been made by the pro-Corona groups that the House members did not verify the articles or even read them; this, according to the defense, could invalidate the articles. The Senate judges, led by Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, disallowed the request, stating that the articles, as transmitted, were valid.

While impeachment is primarily a political process, I believe that due process must be followed, so that the whole trial remains credible. By focusing on the legalities, the defense is trying to maintain the process.

3. Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile is credible as the presiding officer in the impeachment trial. Senator Enrile knows the value of maintaining the credibility of the Senate; he knows that the whole nation is watching the proceedings of the trial. Thus, he cannot afford to allow partisan leanings to be dominant, although it's clear that, from the first week, there are Senators who are already perceived to be partisan. So far, Senator Enrile has kept the proceedings on an even keel. What amazes me about Senator Enrile is his ability as a political survivor. Imagine, the architect of Martial Law, now being revered as much as former Supreme Court Chief Justice Hilario Davide was during the impeachment trial of former President, and convicted plunderer Joseph Estrada.

4. The impeachment trial will be a long process. With one week over, barely four witnesses have taken the stand, with the one lone drama being the surrendering of Justice Corona's statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SAL-N) by the Supreme Court's Clerk of Court. The prosecution says that they will be presenting around seventy witnesses, and, of course, each one will be cross-examined by the defense. While I agree with those who say that the impeachment trial is part of our maturing as a country, I'm also worried whether the Senate and the House will be able to continue their legislative work, since there are many other pressing matters for the country.

One week of the trial is over. Like many of us, I'm looking forward to seeing what will happen next week. At the same time, I'm hoping that this trial will move more quickly, so that we can move on to more important national matters.

Larkin in the Hall

Third time was the charm.

Longtime Cincinnati Reds shortstop Barry Larkin was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame after two failed tries.

Larkin's credentials are pretty impressive. Here's the Yahoo! news report on his accomplishments:

"Playing from 1986-04—all with his hometown Reds—Larkin hit .295 with 198 home runs, 960 RBIs, 2,340 hits and 379 stolen bases. A 12-time All-Star, he won the 1995 NL MVP award, nine Silver Slugger trophies and three Gold Gloves. He helped the Reds win the 1990 World Series and in 1996 became the first shortstop to have 30 homers and 30 steals in a season."

What I find impressive was that, in an era where free agency reigns supreme and players switch teams at the drop of a hat, Larkin spent his entire career in one town, Cincinnati, and, he rewarded his home town with quality play for almost two decades.

Larkin reminds me of my favorite player, Baltimore Orioles shortstop Cal Ripken, who was elected to the Hall in 2007. Ripken, known as "The Iron Man" for his streak of 2,632 consecutive games played, also played for just the Orioles over his 21 seasons.

It's sad, though, that Larkin was the only one elected into the Hall, since there are other players, such as Jeff Bagwell, Tim Raines, and Alan Trammell, whose careers are just as good. Of course, sluggers Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmiero, despite their impressive resumes, are tainted due to their alleged involvement in steroids, which explains their low election percentages (19.5% and 12.6%, respectively). According to sportswriters, next year will be interesting since other Steroid Era stars, namely Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, will be eligible for the ballot. It will be interesting to see how voters will treat them.

In the meantime, kudos to Barry Larkin for being recognized as one of the truly greats in baseball.

Musings from Sendong and Compostela Valley

The double tragedies of the devastation wrought by “Sendong” on Cagayan de Oro, Iligan and other parts of the country, and the deaths caused by landslides in Compostela Valley, bring several issues into sharp focus. If our government could be reminded that there are more important issues than placing former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her cohorts behind bars, it would do well to address these issues, or else, we will be resigned to seeing these tragedies repeated sometime in the future.

Issue #1: Local government officials should be more aggressive in enforcing laws and emphasizing safety.

It’s amazing how many times we read about mayors and other local government officials washing their hands and saying that they had warned people about the dangers of living in geo-hazard areas, and, yet, we see no action beyond the warnings. If the officials had any real concern about the people living in dangerous situations, they would take concrete measures to deal with the situations.

Issue #2: The government should step in if the local government officials are not doing their job.

While the probes initiated by the President are welcome, and, hopefully, will have real results, the fact of the matter is that government officials, once more, were caught with their pants down, and the probes are merely after the fact. I’m not sure what should be done in this situation. Perhaps the various Cabinet officials should direct their people to make sure that local government officials are properly informed about potential dangers, and make concrete suggestions on what should be done. Local government officials who do not heed these suggestions should be held accountable if something such as what happened last week happened.

 Issue #3: More resources should be allocated to better weather forecasting and geo-hazard mapping.

Admittedly, our experts at PAGASA can only do so much, but, if they were better funded, and better equipped, perhaps they would be able to give us ample warning of potential dangers.

Issue #4: Clear alternatives in terms of shelter and livelihood should be provided to those displaced from potential geo-hazard areas.

One of the reasons why people live in areas that could be flooded, or work in conditions that are life-threatening is that they believe they have no other options available to them. Of course, this is not something specific to those affected by the recent disasters; with majority of our countrymen living in poverty, there are many who work in dangerous conditions or resort to illegal activities in order to survive. This, then, is the challenge of each of the leaders who have made Malacañang Palace his or her abode: to lift Filipinos living in poverty from their station in life.

Unfortunately, since our leaders, from the President all the way down to the mayors, appear to be more interested in playing their own “Game of Thrones”, with the lives of our countrymen as the playing pieces, it’s difficult to see whether these issues will ever be adequately addressed.

Ferdinand Topacio -Heart- Hitler

I guess former First Gentleman Mike Arroyo retained Attorney Ferdinand Topacio for his legal expertise. He certainly didn't hire him for his views outside the courts.

After making a public spectacle of himself for being willing to castrate himself if Arroyo didn't return to the country, Topacio stirred a hornet's nest once more in his defense of the late German dictator Adolf Hitler. According to an ABS-CBN report, not only did Topacio have Hitler's painting on his office wall, he went on to deny that Hitler ever ordered the Holocaust, and blamed German desperation at losing the war for the genocide of around 6 million Jews.

Topacio seems to be in denial of history, considering that the extermination of the Jews was undertaken long before defeat for Germany was a clear reality. According to the Wikipedia entry (sorry, no time to do actual research), it is recorded that Hitler was supposed to have said to his associates, "we shall regain our health only by eliminating the Jews." In fact, Auschwitz, one of the most infamous concentration camps was already ready for its evil task in 1942.

While the entry also notes that there was no specific order given by Hitler, it is unlikely that he was unaware of the activities of his subordinates, or, that he would have disapproved of their actions. Topacio also seems to ignore the onus of command responsibility, that all of the death and destruction caused by Nazi Germany falls on Hitler's shoulders.

Topacio even goes as far as to compare President Noynoy Aquino to Hitler. While President Aquino may be seen as incompetent by his critics, comparing him to Hitler is a vile insult, and opens Topacio to even further ridicule.

Considering that Topacio is already handling the corruption charges against his client, doesn't he have enough on his plate to deal with? Or is he trying to generate controversy to obfuscate the issue?  Only Topacio knows.

Already, Topacio is reaping the whirlwind, as a number of people have already reacted negatively to his politically incorrect statements. I wonder how Mike Arroyo feels now about this lawyer he has hired, and whether he has second thoughts about this loose cannon.  

Resolved

2012 started pretty much like any other New Year in the Philippines: with a raucous bang. As usual, many Filipinos celebrated the coming of a new year with loud fireworks and bright pyrotechnics, causing no end of smoke and smog. So, what else is new in the Philippines?

The coming of the new year is accompanied by the usual reflections and resolutions, as the new year heralds a new beginning, a challenge to make a change. For those who haven't made their new year resolutions, Lifehacker has some thoughts on how to be able to keep those resolutions. Fr. James Martin, SJ, has a list of 12 things that he doesn't want to do again, and is worth a look-see.

As for me, the only concrete resolutions that I want to make for now are the following:

1. To write more often - And not only in this blog.
2. To lose weight - Here, the Lifehacker scaffolding ought to help. There are a number of changes that I'll have to make in order to make this happen.

When 2012 comes to an end, I'll look back on this post, and see whether I was able to achieve these resolutions.