MANILA, Philippines – Sandara Villon and Renz Carl Bayanay, both 21-year-old students, are familiar with the environment of the Senate.
The two are currently studying public administration and belong to a student-led congressional organization that participates in lobbying senators’ bills.
They have seen the halls of the Senate, they have listened to committee meetings. But now, they also had the opportunity to watch the session hall being turned into a court, where the senators conduct prosecution case of Vice President Sara Duterte.
In the trial court, members of the House of Representatives put on their prosecution hats for the case. Senators wear their red robes to disguise themselves as senatorial judges. Duterte, who has not appeared in court, is represented by lawyers more from the famous law firm of Fortun, Narvasa and Salazar.
But the conference hall is not just for these three groups and their employees. Every day of testing, some 61 seats are reserved in the warehouse for the Filipino public.
“We are very happy to come here,” Villon told Rappler in Filipino after the trial on Wednesday, July 22. “I mean, even if it is already our third time to come to the impeachment trial, our joy is not lost.”
Their joy was centered on learning how impeachment as a constitutional process works, and seeing first-hand, the charms of a political entity.
But Bayanay also said he was disappointed.
Although the impeachment process may be interesting, Bayanay expressed how disappointed he feels that the country has to see the impeachment trial first. “(There is) a mix of disappointment,” he said, noting that the elected head of state needs to be tested on suspicions that point to betrayal of public trust.
Sara Duterte, who has been impeached twice, is there facing charges violation of the Constitution, bribery, corruption, betrayal of public trust and other serious crimes.
‘History in the making’
To attend the trial, the public can register online through Senate Visitor Management System the day before their preferred date. For the past three weeks, the trial was scheduled from Monday to Wednesday afternoon.
It is on a first-come, first-served basis, with individuals filling out their information, including submitting a copy of their government ID. And it’s filling up fast, according to four people interviewed by Rappler.
Agatha Apostol, 20, couldn’t get a place last week, so she tried to enter the Senate building. That was a no-go.
So the environmental science student tried again for Wednesday’s test day. His registration successful, he entered, wearing a black jacket, a burnt orange top, and black pants.
Curiosity in the impeachment process led Apostol to the Senate hall. He felt honored to be in front of the senators, and witness the rare opportunity that is the impeachment trial.
“There are threats but I find it very interesting, in terms of their interaction,” he said of all parties involved in the case.
“I’ve been studying law because we have a lesson about the Constitution. So there’s some kind of knowledge in it but it’s also something new to me,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino.
Apostol was not alone, he was with his brother, 27-year-old law student Kyle Orsos, during their visit to the Senate.
“This is history, history in the making. And also as a law student, it is very helpful to see how our Constitution and laws work in practice,” Orsos said in a mixture of English and Filipino.
The political side of the case
During the past three weeks, the prosecution court was filled with objections, legal arguments and arguments while the prosecution presented witnesses and documents to present their arguments. the first case – the serious threats that Duterte issued against him President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
The controversy of being charged was not lost on Orsos, who is a second-year law student.
“Since charges (also) are political, so sometimes judges, they cannot help being political,” he said, noting that the court rules he learned from law school were not fully followed in the exercise.
Villon expressed dismay at some of the judge-senators for, in his mind, appearing to show favoritism. He said maybe Filipinos can reach out to senators, even through social media, to compel them to do their duty and remain impartial.
And for him, attending the case in person would help many Filipinos to know which judges-senators are really working.
“Everything can be changed on the Internet. But when you are there physically, you can feel everything, you can see everything. You can judge (for) yourself,” he added.
Will they go back?
With his curiosity already piqued, Apostol is inclined to follow the case through direct current instead. His brother is a little reluctant to return.
“One thing that would drive me back here is evidence that they will prepare,” Orsos said.
Prosecutors will testify on the remaining counts of the indictment, which deal with allegations of embezzlement, unexplained wealth, and gifts of money.
Public administration students Bayanay and Villon are eager to increase their half-day on-the-job training during Wednesdays.
For Bayanay, their presence in the Senate museum is their way of saying that the case “must also be a conversation of the people.” They actually post their experiences on their social media accounts.
“We are going to the Senate to spread awareness to the people that we can watch the impeachment trial, we can see how the senators as senatorial judges are doing, and that it is also a test for our democracy, for the integrity of our institution,” he said in Filipino.
However, they have noticed that the test becomes more technical as the weeks go by. The 61 public seats in the gallery look similarly unfilled. And they saw that it is usually law students who are in the Senate.
Only nine days have passed in the 92-day trial schedule. According to a Momentum Research poll, only 13% of Filipinos are closely following Duterte’s impeachment trial.
“He is far from ordinary Filipinos. I don’t understand anymore, sometimes I get distracted. So we can’t blame (the) Filipinos why they rely on memes, those who have a Facebook social media page out there.,” Villon said.
(The case has been far away for ordinary Filipinos. It has become more difficult to understand, sometimes it is distracting. That is why we cannot blame Filipinos on the basis of memes and on Facebook pages with big machines.)
He suggested that the council try to reach out to local government units to invite ordinary people to watch and offer free transport if necessary.
The student made this appeal to the Senate: “Try to reduce the big gap between the Senate that seems to be a place of elites, and try to bridge that gap and try to welcome the common Filipinos to join here.” – Rappler.com
Some quotes have been translated into English briefly.
