Quick thoughts on the farcical opening of the impeachment trial of the VP.
The question of whether another senator can preside over the impeachment is the most ridiculous and useless hill to die on for both Senate President Gatchalian and the majority he heads.
First, if Gatchalian is so gutless or insecure he feels he cannot preside, he has no business being Senate President and he should have the Senate elect a leader who will lead.
Second, to back his gutlessness, he has allies doing all sorts of legal contortions in a near-Marcosian avoiding of the obvious, simply to make what Gatchalian wants –or to be precise, what he doesn’t want, which is to lead– possible.
I never thought I’d see Kiko Pangilinan channeling Estelito Mendoza and friends by arguing the unthinkable by simply daring to argue what no one thought possible before. The Senate had a leader, and that leader is the presiding officer; he has a deputy, the pro tempore, but the presiding officer presides unless he temporarily delegates it to someone else, but it is never permanent or even for an extended duration precisely because he is a leader.
This is not our first impeachment and we have all gotten accustomed and comfortable with the fact that the Senate President presides except if the President of the Philippines is the one on trial. To suddenly change this, is ridiculous and worse, harmful: it suddenly makes what was obvious debatable, and thus turns everything topsy-turvy, which helps those whose desires are not aligned with what the public wants, which is a fair trial.
Again: this is not a hill worth dying on. But it is one that Gatchalian died on –his senate presidency is now a joke; he won’t preside where it counts, and he won’t give way if he won’t do his job; and instead we have a quarrel which is over ridiculous points and leaving the public with the unavoidable conclusion that Gatchalian cannot control the Senate, he cannot meet the challenge of the times, he cannot lead when called to do so –and the best they can all find to do the job is Chiz Escudero.
Whoever thought Alan Peter Cayetano teaming up with his sister would make the sensible points, regardless of what their motives might be?
Again what made it worth it for the Gatchalian senate presidency to die on this procedural hill? Absurd.
If Gatchalian was going to be gutless, he could invoke what some lawyers say is the option of having the Chief Justice preside. See what Jemy Gatdula has to say on that topic.
How utterly disappointing.
