EDITORIAL - Manong Johnny or Miriam, anyone?

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago are locked in a bitter word war over what amounts to an ethical question involving “gifts” of money.

While both protagonists have their own allies within the chamber, outside it there are hardly any takers.

And that is because no senator, or any other politician for that matter, enjoys any clear advantage in a debate involving ethics. In fact, ethical questions are best resolved without any politician participating.

Ethics involve very high and exacting standards that most people are convinced no politician can hurdle or hurdle with ease. In the current brouhaha at the Senate, where the main ingredient happens to be money, it is simply incredible that ethics is even at the center of it.

It is therefore a futile endeavor for anyone following the tirades swing back and forth to make ethical comparisons between the two senators, as well as the allies that each side has managed to draw into the conflict.

There can be no comparison where comparison is rendered impossible by the absence of cause to compare. It will be difficult to claim all the protagonists are devoid of any ethics. On the other hand, to say they have can be the funniest thing to emerge from the hubbub.

Maybe a better, and certainly more entertaining, comparison can be had if we reprise the roles they played during the impeachment trial of then chief justice Renato Corona. Clearly those roles remain fresh in the collective memory of the nation.

Even without any prodding, you must still clearly remember Enrile and Santiago play out their respective roles in that trial to the hilt. Their individual performances were stunning, shocking and awe-inspiring.

Those performances, requiring only sense before the cameras and none of the pretentions to ethics and similar character hindrances, allowed Enrile and Santiago to shine in their own way in a manner that invites — you guessed it — comparison. Manong Johnny or Miriam, anyone?