Of Wheelchairs, Lockdowns

& Other Courtroom Drama

“Si CJ Corona wala daw

katulong sa bahay. Eh ako, walang

girlfriend! Mas kawawa kaya ako!”

“The Lady is gaga … the

Chief is gago.”

“Nuon para tumakas: getaway car;

Ngayon: wheelchair.”

THESE ARE JUST a few of the many twits, posts and comments made after yesterday’s dramatic 40^th day of the Impeachment Trial. This is such a serious matter but I prefer to look for the humor in it …

        Anyway, Chief Justice Renato Corona (CJ) did not invoke his right to remain silent. In fact, he actually had his day in court and delivered an opening statement that took almost three hours, complete with a Power Point presentation.

        He arrived well-dressed, looking just fine and didn’t look like he skipped lunch. He succeeded in addressing the charges against him. He likewise managed to go off tangent and touched on his family’s simple lifestyle, including the lack of a kasambahay but using the word katulong and not using an air-conditioner “kasi madali kami’ng magkasakit sa lamig.”   

        After he said this, the TV cameras panned on the Corona family in the audience and I saw the son look at his sister and mother beside him and tried to suppress a smile.

        The CJ went on and on about his having a clean conscience and that he is here because the hacienderong Presidente is exacting revenge and he is allowing people from the Left to manipulate him and named Robert Llamas “na hawak siya sa leeg.” That the lady Ombudsman has propagated a “malicious lie.” That his family is not fond of investing – except in foreign exchange. That his wife’s cousin, Jose Basa III (Uncle Peping may you rest in peace … Basa’s daughters were also present in the courtroom and they were seen wiping tears as they hear “not so kind and unfair words” against their dad), is a spoiled brat. That he is diabetic but he is not a thief or a criminal and has done no wrong. That he is a not a fool and so he signed a conditional waiver wherein 188 congressmen and Senator Judge Franklin Drilon should likewise sign for “a moment of truth and give our nation one shining moment in public service.” Well said ...

        He rambled on, showed some emotions (“He seems to be on the verge of [crocodile?] tears, Your Honor,” Defense lead counsel Serafin Cuevas [SC] says as he requests for a one-minute break) and went back on topic only when Presiding Senator Judge Juan Ponce Enrile (JPE) would ask him “Are you done?” or “May I plead with you to wind up so that we can start the trial.”

        When his monologue is finally over, he says, “and now the Chief Justice of the Republic of the Philippines wishes to be excused,” then he stood up and, at the wink of eye, was gone from public view.

      Everybody in the courtroom was shocked, including SC, as the CJ seemed to have disappeared because it took a while before they found him. A lockdown on the Senate doors was ordered and the trial was suspended with JPE pissed off by this apparent walkout and blatant display of disrespect.

        The Senate President said that the CJ, of all people, should know a courtroom’s decorum very well and should have waited to be excused by the Senate impeachment court before leaving.

        And as if the drama wasn’t enough, he is finally found in the Senators’ Lounge then brought to the Senate Clinic because as his son-in-law doctor said, the CJ was having a hypoglycemic episode or a low blood sugar. He explained, “he has diabetes and wasn’t able to eat lunch. He mentioned he felt faint and blurring of vision 20 minutes before finishing his testimony and he said ‘excuse me’ because he didn’t want to faint in the Session Hall.”

        Of course, the reporters couldn’t help but ask the obvious questions – is he really sick or is this just plain drama?

      Defense lawyer Judd Roy quipped, “everything’s dramatic …” then added, “I don’t think he feels well … and I hope they will excuse him, he cooperated naman and the important thing is CJ kept his word, he said he will explain, now it’s just a matter of answering questions.”

        The next scene shows the CJ slumped in a wheelchair and he looked like he didn’t know what was happening around him as SC was being reprimanded by JPE for his client’s disrespectful demeanor. He also warned him of the consequences if his client does not come back for cross examination. 

      SC apologized and said that the CJ “is not physically able and mentally suited to carry on with the trial.” To this, JPE said, “What he said here today is nothing if he will not be cross-examined by the Prosecution … bring him back tomorrow.”

       JPE was really offended and irritated because he didn’t seem to care that the CJ came back in a wheelchair. He stressed that the CJ was allowed to go on with his lengthy testimony then simply left without so much as a by your leave. 

        Defense lawyer Roy has said it’s just a matter of answering questions. We hope the Filipino people – whom the CJ was addressing the whole time in his long monologue (when interrupted by Prosecution lawyer Mario Bautista, he said as if he is gunning for a Best Actor award, “Ginoong Prosecutor, hayaan niyo naman po’ng kausapin ko ang taong bayan”) – would be satisfied with his answers.

        The plot thickens, so they say. Chief Justice Renato Corona arrived at the courtroom cool and confident as he recited his three-hour statement. He left in a wheelchair looking debilitated -- is it because of hypoglycemia or the lack of strength to answer further questions?

        Let’s see what happens at two o’clock this afternoon when the Impeachment Trial resumes its session. I sympathize with my cousins (the Basa sisters, I mean … the dad of their mom Randy Gorospe-Basa and my dad’s mom are siblings) but once more, I expect to be amused …