The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearings resume today - although the precise nature of their inquiry is anyone's guess. We might as well call them the anti-Binay hearings that just continue to go on and on in a manner that can't possible be in aid of any actual legislation. But hey, the Blue Ribbon Committee's powers are pretty vague and it's easy to push the limits. After all, this is the same blue ribbon committee that actually took time to investigate the silly Hayden Kho sex video scandal some time back. Why should this case be treated any differently?
As the old saying goes, where there's smoke, there's fire. And in this case, the committee is certainly trying to generate as much smoke as possible in order to eventually find a fire. I know, I know, I'm totally stretching the analogy in a horrible way, but it seems appropriate given the madness at the Senate. All of these hearings are really just one big political circus most likely aimed at trying to bring down Binay a few notches in order to prevent him from winning the presidency in 2016. I doubt that they'll be able to find a smoking gun in time to accomplish that particular goal, but it's clear that they're going to try as hard as they can right up until Election Day.
It probably doesn't help that at the center of it all is one despicable star witness - former Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado. The guy is as dirty as they come and most if not all of his revelations involve him supposedly acting as a front for the either the former or the current Mayor Binay. Then again, stranger things have happened and this is clearly a case of a once loyal lieutenant turning on his former master. Yes, he clearly profited from all these deals he's accusing the Vice President of having taken advantage of, but then such is the nature of a whistle blower. And he's far too exposed now to stop, I suppose. So he's going to do his best to sling as much mud as possible at the Vice President in the hopes of bringing him down.
I've already written about how pointless these Blue Ribbon Committee hearings are. They tend to practically try people in the court of public opinion, but have no immediate legal weight. Evidence presented to the committee may potentially become introduced as evidence should the Ombudsman use the proceedings as basis for a criminal case, but then they'd still need to properly do so following the rules of court. And that means properly determining the validity of evidence and subjecting witnesses to cross-examination. So anything that the Blue Ribbon Committee may potentially find out will need to be re-discussed in a formal court at some unknown future point in time.
In the mean time the song and dance continues. Our tax money at work!
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