Human aspects of the impeachment

The ongoing impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, now in its fourth week, has been heavily focused on judicial and legal procedures. These are interesting, informative, and educational, and they show the ability and mastery of the prosecution and defense lawyers in applying the law, as well as their courtroom strategies and tactics. They have also exposed the competencies and inadequacies of some of the Senator-Judges in their roles as senators and public officials. These are the first human aspects of this impeachment trial.

The voluminous certified documents, authenticated videos, and other validated documents properly marked by both the prosecution and defense teams are scrutinized during their presentation and upon cross-examination before being admitted as evidence for either side. Even if impeachment is not purely a legal process but also a political one, the presiding officer has been leaning more closely toward legal procedures and jurisprudence, knowing the very partisan composition of the Senator-Judges and the very serious accusations and evidence against Duterte.

Over and above the legal and judicial technicalities, the personalities involved are very interesting. The Vice President and her family of politicians are significant political entities, with a brother who is a congressman, another who is a mayor, and former President Duterte on trial before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague for crimes against humanity. Some of the lawyers for the prosecution and defense are also turning out to be colorful personalities, both because of their political backgrounds and their performances in the ongoing trial.

The personas of the Senator-Judges, which are on full display through their questions and manifestations during the trial, are now for the public to see and hear in the mainstream and social media. While their conduct may be commendable to some, it is very unflattering to others, especially with their obvious incompetence and biases exposed. Their demeanor and treatment of the witnesses also show their true character as politicians, leaders, and persons.

The other human aspects of this impeachment trial are the witnesses. Aside from the NBI director, whose wife is a congresswoman and who himself is a politician, the other witnesses are government and private-sector employees. These are middle-class people who earn their living from salaries from the government or private companies and banks. While they may have their own opinions and biases about the trial, their answers to questions from the prosecution and defense lawyers, as well as from the senators, were based on what they did and what they were doing in their jobs.

Motivations and expectations have a lot to do with human behavior, and if we apply these to the participants in this impeachment trial, we can make a good guess as to who has more, or the most, at stake. For senators, congressmen, and other public officials, political survival is at stake. For the lawyers, aside from legal fees, their professional reputation and prominence are at stake. For the witnesses, except for some short-lived name and face recognition, it is simply a matter of returning to their jobs or retirements, with the consolation of having served truth and justice through their honest testimonies. For Philippine democracy and the Filipino people, quite a lot is at stake.

Human is a noun and is defined in the dictionary as a thinking person. Humane is an adjective describing the quality of showing kindness, care, and sympathy toward others. It means acting in a way that avoids cruelty and causes as little pain as possible to others. It connotes empathy, compassion, mercy, kindness, and justice.

It seems to me that the conduct of this impeachment trial, and all four (4) Articles in this impeachment case, has to do with being a thinking human and being “humane” toward the Filipino people.

In the latest victory of Alexandra Eala in the Canadian 1000 tennis tournament last Saturday, after the enormous support and jubilation of Filipinos watching the game, an American-Canadian quipped, “I want to be a Filipino for a day.”

We should hope and pray that this impeachment trial will make all Filipinos, and many foreigners, want to be a Filipino for all their days.