‘Typhoon Inday’

“Prepare for Typhoon Inday,” was Vice President Sara Duterte’s chief of staff Zuleika Lopez’s short reply when she was ambushed by reporters at the Senate last week.

Of course, perhaps like everyone else, what came to mind was her boss, Inday Sara Duterte, and not the typhoon.

Her remark was a short one liner but it instantly brought me back to that online media briefing on Nov. 23, 2024 when the Vice President unleashed threats against President Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and Rep. Martin Romualdez.

It reminded me of a scene from The Blair Witch Project – the eerie darkness and the sense of impending doom. It was, most of all, chilling because the words came from the country’s second-highest official.

‘The threat is absolute’

Duterte’s exact words during the online media briefing were:

“Huwag kang mag-alala, Ma’am sa security ko, kasi may kinausap na ako na tao. Sinabi ko sa kanya, kapag pinatay ako, patayin mo si BBM, si Liza Araneta at si Martin Romualdez.

“No joke, no joke. Nagbilin na ako, Ma’am. ’Pag namatay ako, sabi ko, huwag ka tumigil ha, hanggang hindi mo mapatay sila. And then he said yes.”

This supposed assassination plot falls under Article IV of the impeachment complaint lodged against the Vice President.

Senior NBI agent John Mark Calilung, the one who was tasked by the bureau to do a digital forensic on the recording, testified on the matter.

Last week, the public – or at least those with the stomach to watch lawyers trade barbs in circuitous legal gobbledygook – saw how much time and taxpayers’ money were consumed as both camps painstakingly dissected Calilung’s testimony.

It was painfully slow. One has to be blessed with a great deal of time to sit through every minute of it.

The most frustrating part is that we’ve already seen this.

The whole nation watched in horror as the VP publicly uttered those threats two years ago. The videos were played repeatedly. They went viral. Even some of her supporters proudly shared them on social media.

The biggest evidence became Duterte herself when she unveiled those threats.

Yet here we are, watching every word painstakingly relitigated.

But of course, this is our country, not quite a failed state, but often an exasperatingly dysfunctional one, slowed by bureaucracy, dirty politics and a justice system that moves at a snail’s pace.

On the third day of the impeachment trial, the defense insisted no grave threat had been committed while the witness said the threat was absolute. Everyone who saw the online briefing would surely agree that, coming from a Duterte, the threat was exactly what it sounded like.

Strategy

Against this backdrop, my lawyer friends wondered why the defense fielded such an unimpressive nepo-baby litigator to cross-examine Calilung.

But perhaps that was the strategy all along – field in a far-from-stellar lawyer, annoying to some without even trying and drag things out with technical details and legalese until the public eventually tunes out and moves on to the next crisis in our perpetually distracted nation of 115 million.

There is, after all, coffee-shop talk that the impeachment trial may not lead to a conviction but would at least allow the public to see for themselves whether the VP is guilty of the charges against her.

I was looking forward to watching a showdown of brilliance not just from the lawyers but from the senator-judges, to witness an exercise in intellectual debates and hear an exchange of language that was both eloquent and incisive.

At the very least, I was hoping it would be impressive enough to be entertaining, just like how Johnny Depp’s defense team performed during the Depp versus Heard trial in 2022 when Johnny Depp filed a complaint of defamation against his ex-wife Amber Heard.

Instead, much of what we’ve seen so far has been a dud.

Clearly, the Senate, sitting as an impeachment court, is itself on trial.

Presiding officer Francis “Chiz” Escudero has so far shown himself capable of steering the proceedings, although it remains too early to know whether this court will produce another infamous “forthwith” moment.

‘Bahala na si Batman’

To be fair, Sen. Robin Padilla had a legitimate point when he questioned who recorded the video and whether there was an affidavit to establish its authenticity.

It was likely a question fed by lawyers, but it probably would have carried more weight had it come from another Duterte ally and not from Padilla.

Unfortunately for the actor-turned-senator, his credibility is only strong to his fans and not to the general public. Even valid questions can sound unintentionally comical when raised by him.

Filipinos, as always, responded with humor.

After Padilla raised the issue, one meme quickly circulated online:

Kaya pala nauso yung katagang “bahala na si Batman” kasi nuknukan ng t@nga si Robin.

‘Misuse of public funds’

The prosecution should have opened with the alleged misuse of public funds and finally shown whether the VP had truly diverted her confidential funds.

This would have been more relevant to Filipino taxpayers and would have been a stronger opening salvo in an impeachment trial where so much is at stake.

As for Typhoon Inday, perhaps the more devastating calamity is an impeachment process that moves so slowly that, by the time it ends, the public has already stopped paying attention. Then it’s back to business as usual – misuse of public funds and all.

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@eyesgonzales. Column archives at EyesWideOpen on FB.