BACK on duty after a bout with high-blood pressure, Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago might just go back to sick bay if the House prosecutors do not shape up.

Santiago missed the first week of trial on advice of her hypertension doctors.  Catching up on the second week of the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona, Santiago saw her blood pressure rise to astronomical heights when she caught Chief House Prosecutor Rep. Niel Tupas coming to court unprepared.

“Do not shake your head at me!” she stormed at Tupas when he could not answer her question how many witnesses the prosecutors planned to present at the trial.

Judge Santiago

“How many documentary evidence are you planning to present?” Santiago asked Tupas in a tone of voice reminiscent of her days as a judge in a regional trial court.

Tupas said he was going to ask his fellow prosecutors.

“You should know!” Santiago screamed.  “Don't you have a trial brief?” she asked Tupas.

A trial brief is a document lawyers prepare detailing the witnesses they plan to present and the documentary evidence they will submit to the court to buttress their case.

Frustrated, Santiago turned to the defense.  Retired  Supreme Court Justice Serafin Cuevas, head of Corona's defense team, enumerated the number of witnesses and documents he would present, eliciting an approving smile from Santiago.

Calming down, Santiago explained why prosecutors should come to court prepared.  It helps move the trial speedily.

“Justice delayed is justice denied,” she lectured on her second day in court.

With her mastery of the Rules of Court and rules of evidence, Santiago is proving to be an able support for Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, who has been patiently tutoring the prosecutors how to go about their work properly.

Mentor, tutor

In various media interviews and pronouncements from the chair, Enrile said he has bent over backward in accommodating lapses of the prosecution and explaining his rulings patiently so that the viewing public would understand the impeachment process.

In return, Tupas disrespected Enrile by asking the presiding officer to give the prosecutors more leeway.  In a series of questions seeking to define what Tupas wanted, Enrile managed to teach Tupas a few lessons in basic trial procedure.  Tupas yielded meekly.

In another learning episode that did not get much media attention, Sen. Gregorio Honasan asked both defense and prosecuting teams whether they still believed in the constitutional guarantee of presumption of innocence.

Cuevas answered without hesitation.  Tupas stumbled for a split second.  Recovering his composure, he said he did.  But his eyes looked downward in apparent embarassment and, for a moment, my high-definition television monitor seemed to catch a blush of embarrassment sweep through his face.

But I may have been imagining things.  For no sooner had the trial adjourned for the day when House spokespersons had a field day again putting self-serving spins to the proceedings in brazen defiance of Senate rules prohibiting discussing the merits of the case outside the court.

Propaganda team

The leader of the House propaganda panel is Rep. Miro Quimbo.  His adroit twists of logic can put Joseph Goebbels, Adolf Hitler's chief propaganda minister, to shame.  Assisting Quimbo are Rep. Erin Tañada and Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara, sons of illustrious fathers and who have promising careers ahead of them.

Since I know their fathers, I will indulge myself in some unsolicited parental guidance.  They should distance themselves from their colleague and save their careers.  Already they are being mentioned as potential candidates for the Senate.  They should detach themselves from bad influence.

The temerity of the House prosecutors is a sight to behold.  They think they are able to fool the people.  Now, their colleagues are threatening to go on a nationwide campaign ostensibly to educate the people of their efforts to reform the judiciary.

Worst SALN violators

Taxpayers are asking where are they getting the supposed educational funds.  Meanwhile, the Philippine Council for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) has reported that despite their best efforts, they have only managed to get the Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Networth (SALN) of 185 of the 188 House impeachers.

The PCIJ report also said the worst violators of the SALN disclosure laws were Congress and the Office of the President.  Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda, whose brilliant legal mind will certainly take him places, says they are not on trial here.  A tolerant House Speaker Sonny Belmonte says the people should focus on Corona's SALN.

A Catholic prelate, Bishop Emeritus Oscar Cruz, has detected a sudden jump in President Aquino's personal wealth as reflected in his SALN.  The good bishop suggests that the President must explain in  order to keep his moral ascendancy over his moral crusade to clean up the government.

Meanwhile, the President's political affairs adviser  Ronald Llamas, has been caught on camera purportedly in the process of patronizing pirated DVDs.  The President shrugged off the incident because DVDs are not top priority for him.  Maybe it is time for the government to define what are its priorities.

12 Commandments

It may be time for the MTRCB to start tagging classifications onto  newscasts and coverage of the impeachment trial.  Our kids are beginning to imbibe the wrong values.  Let's call them the 12 Commandments of Governance:

1. Do not do your homework.  You may be able to bluff your way through.

2. When caught unprepared, look repentant and say, “We submit, Your Honor.”

3. In any case, there will always be generous souls like Sen. Frank Drilon and Sen. Ralph Recto who will be there for you to help you get a passing grade.

4. Learn how to manipulate the news coverage by ostensibly explaining complex points of law to reporters.

5. Campaign early by going on information dissemination campaigns paid by taxpayers in your constituencies.

6. Ignore minor infractions committed by your friends as low priority.

7. Disclosure of SALNs are only for those who are accused of violating the Constitution.

8. Study law.  It is good to be prepared to defend yourself when caught redhanded.

9. Supplement your communication degree by reading Goebbels's masterpiece, The Principles of Propaganda.

10. Skip your homework and watch television.  You will learn better about the practical things that count more in life.

11. Do not follow what your leaders say but what they do.

12. Make a career in government a first priority, DVDs last.