Toxic Sara

In my 56 years of journalism, I have never seen a political personality who has so riven the body politic as to divide, bitterly, the nation at large. Our executive branch is riven by discord. Our legislative branch, particularly the Senate, is riven by discord.

This disunity across sectors of our society and branches of government apparently is so irremediable it threatens to impact the people’s choice for the next generation of leaders and the future course of our politics and our democracy over the next quarter century.

Our constitutional democracy, as we know today, is being tested by the crucible of the current crisis of disunity and discord, at the executive branch, and at the legislative branch, thru the Senate.

The crisis also impacts the future of the Senate as an impartial, independent, and judicious sui generis body in seeking accountability from impeachable officials.

The Senate has been so divided it does not know, for quite some time, exactly and confidently, just how many votes it takes to convict an impeached official.

A number of senators have destroyed their public image, carefully manicured in long years of public service, because of their canine devotion to – or hatred of  –  the protagonists in the impeachment trial.

For some senators, lumabas ang tunay na character nila. Brilliant ba siya o bobo si senator? Mabait ba siya o salbahe? Tuta ba siya o independent? Ma-drama ba siya o disente? Inaapi ba siya or arte lang? You be the judge.

Speaking of character, our senators today are so divided that civility and decency have been thrown into the gutter.

Ridiculously, for many Filipinos is the doubt has been implanted in their minds by now about long-held verities about arithmetic and math. Arithmetic and math are exact sciences and doctrines. Now, it turns out, they are not. Fractions (two-thirds) are moving targets. All does not mean all or 100 percent. All can be less. And less can be more.

And all because of one person – Sara Zimmerman Duterte.

This makes the vice president, our well-loved and charming second-highest official, a toxic character. She is like a drop of blood. Drop it into a clear glass of pristine water and the entire water becomes red. Beclouded. Discolored. Polluted. The water cannot be brought back into its original clarity and purity, even if you apply the rules of arithmetic, math, or chemistry.

At its session yesterday, Sept. 23, the Senate, acting as an impeachment court, the climate of disunity, turmoil, and uncertainty that has bedeviled the nation’s highest legislative body was in full display.

In a rare but spectacular vote, the Senate impeachment court, by a vote of 13 ayes or in favor, one nay or against, and six abstentions, decided, with finality, what a two-thirds vote to secure conviction in an impeachment means. It is not necessarily 16 – which was two-thirds of all senators.

With the new vote, two-thirds does not mean 16. The denominator “all” (previously 24) does not mean 24. It could be less. “All” shall now apply “only to those members who, at the time of the vote, remain legally and factually capable of participating in the impeachment proceedings.”

Excluded are members or senators who are:

“No. 1, detained and are suspended or otherwise legally restrained from exercising the functions of a senator;

“No. 2, persons sought by authorities, whose whereabouts are unknown;

“No. 3, suffering from a physical or medical incapacity;

“No. 4, beyond the coercive processes of the Senate; and

“No. 5, others similarly situated.”

Today, effectively and practically, there are only 20 fully functioning senators. Four are effectively disabled by various circumstances. Senator Jinggoy Estrada and Rodante Marcoleta are in jail for alleged plunder. A plunder case suspends a senator. Jinggoy and Marcoleta are covered by No. 1 exclusion – detained and suspended senators.

Bato dela Rosa is a fugitive from justice, wanted in The Hague for alleged crime against humanity. That’s category 2 – senators being sought by authorities; whereabouts unknown.

Loren Legarda falls under physical or medical incapacity. She is on an extended medical leave. She seems to have suddenly developed lung problems.

All four – Estrada, Marcoleta, de la Rosa, and Legarda – are “beyond the coercive processes of the Senate.” They cannot be ordered by the Senate to attend trial sessions.

The impact of the vote: It will now be easier to convict Sara Duterte. Based on 20 senators who can attend trial sessions, the vote to convict lowers to 14, not 16. This is because two-thirds of 20 is 13.2. A fraction is counted as “plus one.” So 13 plus one is 14.

Meanwhile, let me quote my colleague, the economist Andrew Masigan, on who Sara is to some people and what she has done for the country, if any:

“For four years, Vice President Sara Duterte has occupied the country’s second-highest office with vast resources at her disposal. Yet what does she have to show for it? She has offered no defining national reform initiative, no durable social project, and no serious contribution to economic transformation. On health care, education and political reform, her record is thin. Her vice presidency generated a lot of noise but nothing related to nation-building.

“Political persecution is no excuse. Leni Robredo was denied a generous budget, excluded from the Cabinet, and attacked by Rodrigo Duterte’s propaganda machinery. Yet she built Angat Buhay through private partnerships, delivering programs in nutrition, health care, education, housing and livelihood. Robredo converted political marginalization into service. Sara converts scrutiny into grievance and non-stop whining.

“Let me state it straight – grievance, victimhood and drama are Sara Duterte’s stock-in-trade. And we are tired of it.”

CORRECTION: The Manila Overseas Press Club will have Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian as its guest of honor and speaker at the “MOPC Senate Night,” on Friday, Sept. 25, 6 p.m., Fairmont ballroom, Makati, and not at the New World Hotel ballroom.

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