The Vice President’s defense lawyers want to keep the trial technical and arcane, beyond the comprehension of the ordinary taxpayer. The prosecution, sadly, is playing their game.
The prosecution scored a major win Tuesday, August 4, with private prosecutor Lorna Kapunan delivering a masterclass in methodical litigation. But was anyone watching? And if they were, did they even care?
The Senate gallery, once filled to capacity, now has empty seats. Thirteen days into the impeachment trial, and viewership, we are told, has declined. And the ones watching are hyperpartisans, ready to pounce on every misstep, wayward statement, even a drop of spittle.
Meanwhile, the presiding officer, given another shot at redemption, preens for the camera, showing off a demeanor fit for a black robe and the gavel (a future in the higher courts perhaps), unless the flood control scandal brings him to court as a defendant and not a judge.
Someone should dig up the old tapes of the impeachment trials of former president Joseph Estrada and former chief justice Renato Corona and have the prosecution and defense teams, and yes, even the preening presiding officer, sit down, tie them down if you must, and watch these tapes until they understand that this is not a purely legal proceeding but a political one.
