Much is now being said about the recent impeachment of Chief Justice Renato Corona and his impending trial before the Philippine Senate, both for and against it. That there are differing views about it is shown by the opposing statements issued by organizations of lawyers. But if opinion polls are to be believed, the common man favors putting the chief magistrate on trial and if I were one of the Senator-Judges, it would pay to read the people's pulse. The mid-term elections is less than two years away and for the Senators who are elected-at-large as opposed to the Congressmen who obtain their posts from their constituents in their local districts, much of their chances on a second term depend on public opinion.
Which is why the impeachment trial, although at first glance would seem like a court procedure complete with all the legal jargon and trappings, in essence it still is, and ultimately is, a political process owing to the very nature that the senator-judges owe their position and to whom their very tenure depends. So while evidence would play an important part, here is one trial where technicalities should not be resorted to but rather the over-all strategy of both camps should be focused on translating all the legal gobbledegook to layman's terms and presenting themselves as a much sympathetic figure to the common tao. Media, now more than ever, plays a bigger role and "trial by publicity" is actually the secret strategy given the dynamics of an impeachment trial.
History is strewn with the carcasses of the failed re-election bids of the senators who voted and showed their biases for then President Erap during his impeachment. Incumbent Senator Judge tito Sotto humbling defeat after the aborted impeachment of ex President Erap is a most illustrating example and I'm sure bears on the minds of the present Senate especially those gunning for re-election. The most impartial judge would then be those senators who would not be seeking a second term or at least those with such a high credibility that they are impervious to the swinging scales of survey polls.
So it comes as no surprise that the congressmen-prosecutors are lapping it up in the press, showing piecemeal their evidence much to the chagrin of the senator-judges. The former know very well that thereal battle ground is not the Senate halls but rather the court of public opinion. That while the Senator-judges hold the fate of CJ Corona, the people in the end, will be the ultimate judge when they show their satisfaction or dissatisfaction with their decision on the impeachment trial come May 2013.
