BEFORE proceeding, condolence to the family of Mary Grace Nazareno Cas, who just passed away after succumbing in her fight against the “Big C” over the weekend, according to her brother-in-law, Frank Carreon.

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The impeachment trial of Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona opened yesterday at the Senate and thanks to the good preparation ordered by Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile days before, the situation can only be described as “organized chaos.”

“Magulo” pero may kaayusan ang sitwasyon kahapon sa Senado, sa kabila ng katotohanang higit 1,000 kasapi ng media ang “bumuhos” kahapon upang i-cover ang unang araw ng pagdinig.

Kudos to the Senate leadership headed by SP Enrile and the whole Senate staff for their professionalism that is on full display yesterday.

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With both sides aware that impeachment is a political exercise wearing the cloth of a judicial proceeding, they immediately started their campaign in the court that matters the most in any political conflict -- the court of public opinion.

Yesterday morning, CJ Corona again spoke in front of his supporters at the SC ground, vowing that he will not retreat (walang atrasan) from the fight while in the same breath demolishing the prosecution claim that he has 45 properties in his or his spouse’s name.

CJ Corona’s lengthy retort yesterday may have been ‘sub judice’ insofar as the rules of court are concerned, but then, it was the prosecution which first peddled the information last week.

And nobody can fault him or his advisers if they are willing to be cited in contempt this early. For just like in any political struggle where the stakes are simply too high, all accusations, trivial or otherwise, must be answered forthwith less it left a lasting impression in the public’s mind.

This one of the lessons of Erap’s failed impeachment trial in 2000 when his camp failed to promptly demolish the irrelevance of the ‘second envelope’ and the paid testimony of Clarissa Ocampo against him.

No’ng mapatunayan ng kampo ni Erap na walang kaugnayan ang second envelope sa mga bintang sa kanya at “inareglo” si Ocampo para idiin siya, huli na ang lahat -- wala na siya sa Palasyo, nakakulong at may sandamakmak pang kaso.

In the spectacle that opened yesterday, the entire country, nay, even the whole world, are therefore asking which of the political factions and vested interests would emerge triumphant?

What would also be the “spoils of war” that would be apportioned and distributed in the end by the winning camp? The answer to this can only be answered by future events. Abangan!

As tempted as we all are about believing that this political struggle is a fight about “good governance,” the “rule of law” and the other motherhood statements that can be conjured up by both camps, there are far deeper -- and material -- reasons why the impeachment of CJ Corona came about.

Sa lengguwahe ng mga Marxista, may mga materyal at kongkretong batayan kung bakit nagaganap ngayon ang isang prosesong may layuning patalsikin si CJ Corona sa kanyang puwesto -- at walang kinalaman ang “demokrasya,” “kalayaan” at “karapatan” sa pangyayaring ito.

Needing serious thought and consideration is CJ Corona’s not-so-baseless assertion that he is now on the receiving end of Malacañang’s ire for his favouring an SC ruling favouring the distribution of the Aquino/Cojuangco families’ Hacienda Luisita to their tenants.

On the other hand, the SC’s consistent granting of judicial relief to GMA and its obvious bias against the P-Noy administration’s anti-corruption campaign under CJ Corona’s leadership can only court suspicion as to the tribunal’s impartiality.

That CJ Corona’s impeachment trial is a political exercise should not, however, delude the public into believing that this would be a waste of time and taxpayers’ money and that the senator-judges, led by SP Enrile, would vote as mere political partisans to the issue.

Indeed, the country is fortunate to have SP Enrile as the “presiding justice,” so to speak, as this latest political drama unfolds.

The nation can expect that his firm leadership, wide experience and own legal expertise would give the whole proceeding the dignity and credibility that everyone desires.

As SP Enrile sees it, the entire institution of the Senate and everything that it represents -- the last bastion of democracy and independence, a tribunal that only vows to the best interest of the people and the country -- is as much on trial too starting yesterday.

In a word, SP Enrile would not let the country down going into the most important Senate event under his leadership and in this very historic moment in our nation’s political history.

The successful conclusion of CJ Corona’s impeachment trial would be among the best legacies, nay, even the most important of them all, that SP Enrile would be leaving behind. And I am sure that it would be appreciated by generations of Filipinos yet to come.

Sa ilalim ng mahusay na liderato at pamumuno ni SP Enrile, hindi mabibigo ang publiko sa kanilang paghahangad na masunod ang tamang proseso at magkaroon ng resulta na katanggap-tanggap sa lahat.

Sa madaling salita, asahang hindi ito “mabababoy” katulad ng nangyari sa impeachment trial ni Erap.

As for the apprehension of reader Ed Cuenca of Batangas regarding the “right” of the non-lawyer senator-judges to participate in the trial given the legal issues involved, rest assured that they have taken the extra measure of hiring their own team of “legal consultants” just for this trial.

Sa madaling salita, hindi naman magmumukhang “tolonges” ang mga katulad nina Sen. Lito Lapid, Bong Revilla, Antonio Trillanes at Tito Sotto dahil seryoso ang kanilang ginagawang paghahanda sa usaping ito. Ituloy ang pagsubaybay sa Senado!

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