BEFORE proceeding, a warm, albeit belated, happy birthday to my dearest mother, on her birthday last February 18. The occasion would have been much happier had she not been so far from home, still toiling in the land of Uncle Sam even in the late years of her life.

What can I say except, for poor citizens like yours truly and the millions of Pinoys too, somebody always have to make sacrifices, in this case, my mother. But happy birthday ulit, Inay, at harinawang dumating ang araw na magkasama na ulit tayong lahat!

Meanwhile, if the votes cast by senators early last week on whether or not to respect the TRO issued by the SC on the further public dissemination of CJ Renato Corona’s bank accounts is to be the barometer, the result should not be a cause of dismay but rather, of elation, to the Palace strategists.

For despite the majority of the senators (13 of them) voting to “respect” the SC TRO and thus defeating the effort of the other 10 senators to have the accounts opened up publicly, the turnout also indicate what the final voting would most likely be.

In other words, it would not have escape the attention of P-Noy’s subalterns that with careful handling, they already have 10 “assured votes” and would thus need only six more votes to have

CJ Corona convicted and removed from his position.

Sa madaling salita, isang “indikasyon” ang nangyaring botohan sa bank account ni CJ Corona kung saan “nakakiling” ang ating mga senador ngayon pa lang.

But as Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile never tires of reminding, the impeachment trial, despite its being political in nature, should not be “an excuse nor a license for us to ignore and abandon our solemn and higher obligation and responsibility as a body of jurors to see to it that the Bill of Rights is observed and that justice is served;

“To conduct the trial with impartiality and fairness, to hear the case with a clear and open mind, to weigh carefully in the scale the evidence against the respondent, and to render to him a just verdict based on no other consideration than our Constitution and laws, the facts presented to us, and our individual moral conviction.”

And indeed, along this effort towards impartiality and fairness, everyone agrees that only SP Enrile, despite being 88 years old, possesses the necessary experience, knowledge and yes, firmness in leadership and character.

Kung iba marahil ang presiding officer sa pagdinig na ito, matagal nang nauwi sa riot at kaguluhan ang buong proseso. Salamat, SP Enrile!

Incidentally, whether he admits to it or not and despite his best effort to be known, respected and accepted by the public solely on the basis of his personality and qualifications, Cagayan Rep. Jack Enrile, SP Enrile’s son, would be the immediate “beneficiary” of his father’s unequalled handling of the impeachment trial.

Speaking before the 20th IBP General Convention last Friday, SP Enrile said: “Personally, however, whatever the outcome may be, I will leave it to our people and to history to judge me based on my actions and decisions as presiding officer and a juror of this Impeachment Court.”

Well, SP Enrile, the people has already “prejudged” you in their never-ending praises of your leadership each day of the trial and afterwards.

And along this line, I am sure they would further prove their gratefulness in next year’s midterm elections when Rep. Jack Enrile steps into the plate and declare his intention to follow your footsteps in the Upper Chamber.

And knowing the calibre of Rep. Jack, I am sure he would be an asset in adding luster and respect to the chamber dominated by the shadow and presence of his illustrious father. Sigurado ‘yan!

And talking about upholding the rule of law, here’s kudos to the HLURB, an office under VP Jejomar ‘Rambotito’ Binay, for standing up against New San Jose Builders (NSJBI), the new “influential” business company in the Aquino administration.

In a recent decision, the HLURB said San Jose Builders, whose owners are close supporters of P-Noy, should pay the QC government some P7 million in taxes and to also comply with all the demands sought by a group of condominium unit owners who also filed the case against the company.

The NSJBI, according to the seven-page decision dated January 27 penned by HLURB arbiter Joselito Melchor, has the sole obligation to pay the real estate taxes to the city government since it remains to be the owner of the condominium project located in Barangay San Martin de Porres in Cubao.

Meanwhile, the unit owners belonging to the Theresa Tower Condominium Association Inc. (TTCAI) led by its president Emmanuel Lintag and represented by lawyer Joel Pradia, who also happens to be one of them, hailed the expeditious ruling by the HLURB.

According to Lintag and Pradia, they filed the case against the company after they discovered that it has not been paying real estate taxes to the QC government since 2006 up to the present compounded by the fact that the titles to the common areas have not been delivered to the condominium association up to the present.

“(The company) ought to know this obligation more than its innocent buyers. Its failure to deliver titles to the common areas whether consciously made or not cannot be countenanced by this office considering the immeasurable adverse effects to the complainants, if any,” the decision said.

And until the issues raised by the complainants were brought to the attention of the HLURB nothing has been done by the company, so it was further alleged.

“Thus, the complainants were left with no other recourse but file the case for the protection and vindication of their rights,” the association members said. Amen, ‘di ba, kasamang Arlie Calalo, hehehe!

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