Miriam's vote to acquit is conviction

Yes, when controversial Senator Miriam Defensor- Santiago stood and spoke for one last time at the Senate sitting as an impeachment court, in her usual fantastic flair and feisty flavor, she made the entire country watching stop and listen. It’s no surprise. The lady senator has always had the uncanny ability to attract friend or foe, keen observer or mere spectator to drop whatever they’re doing and see what the should’ve-been-president of the Republic has to say. Whether you’re sincerely interested in the affairs of the state or simply looking for some entertainment, Madame Miriam never fails to disappoint. Her verbal calisthenics, highfalutin jargon, superhuman knowledge of constitutional law, and occasional outbursts are stuff YouTube Top Searches are made of!

So why was Miriam’s (along with Senators Arroyo and Marcos’s) vote to acquit a sign of conviction? Because these senators stood to gain nothing from voting to acquit Chief Justice Corona. Knowing how overwhelming the vote to convict was, any political opportunist initially wanting to acquit might as well abandon their stand and join the rest (“if you can’t beat them, join them”), especially considering how mainstream media has effectively helped set the minds of people that Corona equals Arroyo equals guilty. 

Suffice it to say, impeachment being a numbers game, it would’ve been convenient for them to simply vote guilty along with the rest, knowing how voting to acquit won’t make any difference at all (it’s obviously a lost cause). They would have saved considerable political capital useful for some other time (say, elections, in the case of Bongbong), especially since the popular opinion is that Corona is guilty, and choosing to stick to their guns might actually turn off their support base (and it has, judging by the unkind comments Senator Santiago has received from some netizens). But they didn’t. They stood their ground. For the rule of law, for due process, they stood pat. And whether you agree with their position or not, that is undoubtedly conviction.

Even if, to a large extent, I love the fact that more focus has been given to the SALN, and that a high official has been made accountable in the process, I believe Miriam et. al. showed more conviction, more balls, than most of the senators who, with glaring hypocrisy, hammered shut Corona’s coffin and sealed tight his awful fate.

Whether we choose to define Miriam—for better or worse—based on her performance at the impeachment, we cannot deny what she has already accomplished and what else she intends to do (if having the most number of proposed bills passed is basis of being ‘the best performing senator,’ then Senator Santiago has won the competition by a light-year).

Elevated to the realm of iconic, she has joined the ranks of a few but phenomenal Filipino women, those who are jointly revered and reviled, worshipped and vilified. The roster of Filipinas who have immortalized themselves as legendary is limited to four names: Imelda Romualdez- Marcos, Gloria Macapagal- Arroyo, (I hate to include but I have to) Corazon Cojuangco- Aquino, and of course, Miriam Defensor- Santiago. 

Some call her crazy. But even Steve Jobs advocated for insanity. After all, the insanely brilliant are always the only ones who dare ask the most difficult of questions, those necessary to get the right answers, and eventually, sometimes accidentally, change the world. And what of those who judge them, ridicule them, attempt to dismiss them? Oh, they are but afraid, fearful for their sorry and pathetic lives, petrified that the brilliance might be all too bright that their dimness is outshined.

I met the lady senator once, very briefly, during the inauguration of President Arroyo here in Cebu back in 2004, and it would be a dream come true to meet her again, for an autograph, a photo, and for some meaningful discourse. I’ve had a number of one-on-ones with President Arroyo, my former boss and distant relative in my mother’s Kapangpangan side. And our conversations, would you believe, cover an entire gamut of topics: from agreeing to disagree on politics and idealism, economics—to the most outrageous (like teasing her to Bill Clinton, and talking about her boob job!).

I’ve also had countless one-on-ones, dinners and lunches with former first lady Imelda Marcos, whom I fondly call Auntie Meldy being a paternal grand aunt of mine. Each time would be a journey through the strange and stimulating mind of a global superstar, into the realm of the ‘true, good, and beautiful.’ So that’s two out of the four iconic Filipinas, and since I’ve met Cory several times before and have never been really interested in her (save for the speech she delivered in Washington D.C.), I’m left with one more to go: Miriam.

So a sit-down meeting or dinner would surely be a dream come true. And a debate with the senator, ahhh, is heaven on earth. Why would I dare? On top of the sheer delight such an orgasmic experience would bring, in the event that, by some bizarre twist of fate, I win the argument—then I shall have been made, I beat Miriam Santiago in a debate! And what if I lose? Doesn’t matter, I was debating with Miriam anyways. So here’s hoping she gets to read this and contacts me soon, if she would grant me the rare pleasure, before she leaves for the Hague to sit as judge in the International Criminal Court (ICC).

“Hey Senator, I just met you (once), and they say you’re crazy, but here’s my email. So call me, maybe?”

***

Facebook: www.facebook.com/MikeAcebedoLopez

Twitter: @MykLopez

Email: [email protected]