01368: The End of the Corona Impeachment Trial

As I start writing this blog post, I and probably a rather large number of Filipinos are all waiting for the final session of the Impeachment Trial of Chief Justice Corona to actually begin. After pretty much 5 months of various witness testimonies, sermons by senator judges like Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago and strange antics like the whole "Corona walkout" last week, it's all about to come down.

Thus it becomes all the more apt that a friend of mine has come to refer to this trial as the Coronavella - a play on Corona and of course the ever popular telenovelas that dominate prime time television here.

But the term really works - it has been a heck of a lot of drama including long-running family quarrels, possible money laundering involving millions of dollars and of course a near heart attack on the part of the Chief Justice. And so now we just wait for the end of it all.

Quite frankly, I think they're going to convict him. I don't say this because he's guilty - I don't think we saw enough evidence to support that. However I don't think it helped the Defense that they didn't really present sufficient documentary evidence to counter all the evidence presented by the Prosecution. On that basis alone they should convict the guy since the Defense ended things on a rather lousy note despite being totally stellar all throughout the Prosecution's turn at the plate.

As I've told a number of people by this point, the clear winner in this trial isn't our President, who clearly rail-roaded this entire process to ensure he gets what he wants. Oh no, the real winner is Juan Ponce Enrile, who has wowed the public with his keen intellect and legal expertise despite his age. Yes, we all know what a brilliant litigator he is and he's quite the wily fox to boot. But beyond that, the man has carried himself amazing well throughout the trial and I'm sure more folks appreciate why he's survived in our political landscape for so long.

I'd push for him to become Chief Justice instead if that were possible, but I imagine that may be a rather short term. No offense meant, JPE.

I don't think I'll be able to write anything in a creative capacity today. Time to focus on the trial!