Enrile open to use of Tagalog in impeach trial

MANILA, Philippines - Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile is open to recommendations to conduct the impeachment proceedings against Chief Justice Renato Corona in Tagalog.

Enrile, presiding officer in the impeachment trial, is concerned there may be some issues with legal and technical terms but said he has no problem if questions are asked in Tagalog.

“Okay sa akin yan, pwede sa akin. Ang termino ng batas mahirap yata ... pero ang sistema ng pagtanong puwede naman eh (That’s okay with me, legal terms maybe difficult but asking in Tagalog is okay),” Enrile said in a radio interview.

The Senate President was reacting to a proposal by a Catholic bishop that it would be better if the proceedings in the impeachment trial were done in Tagalog.

The Senate will resume trial hearings at 2 p.m. today.

Senate President pro-tempore Jinggoy Estrada and Senators Chiz Escudero and Franklin Drilon have occasionally made comments or asked questions in Tagalog.

Both prosecution and defense panels have used English in the legal exchange in trial proceedings.

Senator Francis Pangilinan was quoted in a news website as saying that it would be “ideal” to conduct the impeachment trial in Tagalog but that there will be “limitations.”

“Many legal terms are in English and have no translation in Pilipino. Still, we support any effort at making the proceedings more accessible and understandable to the layman and the public at large,” he said.

Senator Aquilino Pimentel III, for his part, said it should be enough to conduct the questioning during the trial in “Taglish (Tagalog-English) or Engalog (English-Tagalog).”

Last Sunday, Malacañang expressed belief that it may not be practical to adopt the proposal since not all legal terms have direct translations in the vernacular.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said it would be up to the Senate impeachment court or the senator-judges to decide whether to agree to such setup or maintain English as the medium during deliberations.

“I think that is something that will have to be addressed by the senator-judges in the impeachment trial because there are words and phrases that are technical and may not have a direct translation,” she said.

“Inevitably there will always be English words or even Latin phrases which translations in Tagalog would be difficult, and lawyers may find it hard to talk directly in Pilipino,” Valte, who is also a lawyer, said.