There are candidates we really shouldn’t support

A number of political observers believe that the reason why Senate President Francis Escudero would not start the impeachment trial of Vice-President Sara Duterte is that the required two-thirds of the current 23-member Senate (Sen. Sonny Angara had resigned) or 16 senators voting “Guilty” to convict her would not be met. Put another way, eight senators of the current members voting “Not guilty” would acquit VP Sara.

The observers think that Mr. Escudero had set the opening of the impeachment trial sometime in July because by that time, the composition of the Senate would have changed, and the number of senators who would vote “Guilty” would have increased to meet the required two-thirds of the members of the Senate to convict VP Sara.

However, based on the projections of pollsters Social Weather Stations and Pulse Asia — they have been correct most of the time — Mr. Escudero’s supposed scheme would be for naught. While current senators thought to be supportive of VP Sara would no longer be in the Senate in July — because they have termed out or were not re-elected — there would still be at least nine senators, including re-elected and newly elected ones, who would vote “Not Guilty.” That would mean the required two-thirds of the 24-member Senate (the slot vacated by Angara would have been filled on July 1) voting “Guilty” to convict Sara would not be met.

But there are also political pundits who say that the incumbent senators had prevailed upon Mr. Escudero to schedule the impeachment trial to after the mid-term elections so that the electorate would not know how the senators, especially those running for re-election, would have voted in the trial of VP Sara. Politicians learned an unforgettable lesson from a previous impeachment trial.

During the nationally televised impeachment trial of President Joseph “Erap” Estrada in 2000, Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Blas Ople, Miriam Defensor Santiago, Nikki Coseteng, Tessie Oreta, Gregorio Honasan, John Osmeña, Ramon Revilla, Sr., Francisco Tatad, Tito Sotto, and Robert Jaworski voted not to open an envelope believed to contain evidence so damning to the president that people thought it would lead to his conviction and consequent removal from office. The “No” vote of the 11 senators saved President Estrada from conviction. But the people were so infuriated by the 11 senators’ display of sycophancy towards President Estrada, or fear of him, that they (the people) took it upon themselves to pressure Mr. Estrada to resign.

Not only did they oust Erap, they also made the 11 senators pay for their sycophancy or cowardice by campaigning against their re-election. Except for Senators Ople and Revilla, who chose not to run for public office again, Senators Tatad, Honasan, Jaworski, Osmeña, and Santiago were repudiated at the polls the next time they ran for the Senate.

Nikki Coseteng, having reached her term limit as senator, ran for representative of her congressional district, but lost ignominiously. Ms. Aquino-Oreta deemed it wise not to run for office again. She instead fielded her daughter as candidate for representative of Malabon, the Oreta political bailiwick. Poor girl, she paid for the “sin” of the mother. Ms. Defensor Santiago made it to the Senate on her second attempt after the Erap fiasco because she rode on Vice-President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s lavishly funded and military-escorted campaign caravan when VP Arroyo ran for president in 2004.

Mind you, the 11 senators only voted against opening an envelope believed to contain evidence incriminating to Erap. They had not voted to dismiss the charges against him, yet the people considered that suppression of evidence that could have led to Erap’s conviction a betrayal of the trust of the people. And for that, the people disavowed them at the polling places. That is what the senators running for re-election want to avoid — casting their vote on the issue of whether VP Sara is guilty or not as it could result in their political demise.

That is precisely the reason the people wanted the trial of VP Sara to have proceeded, even if they knew that the required two-thirds or 16 senators voting “Guilty” would not have been met. They wanted to know who among the incumbent senators would have voted “Not guilty” in spite of the preponderance of evidence of anomalies committed by VP Sara, for that would have revealed what the senators’ true character and their values are — personal interests (the goodwill of the politically powerful and influential Dutertes) first before the common good (the permanent removal from public office of an official guilty of graft and corruption).

The House of Representatives’ impeachment process brought to the public’s attention the sordid details of some of the charges against VP Sara. Evidence of anomalies committed by VP Sara was so preponderant that 240 out of 318 members of the House of Representatives signed the impeachment complaint against her. That is 75% of the members of the House of Representatives.

The same evidence would have been presented in the impeachment trial if the Senate had held the trial and the senators had judged VP Sara guilty or not guilty of the charges leveled against her. If they voted “Not Guilty,” they would meet the same fate those senators who tried to prevent President Estrada’s conviction. If they voted “Guilty,” they would draw the enmity of the Dutertes. And woe unto those who cross the Dutertes.

That is why political pundits say Mr. Escudero is under tremendous pressure from his fellow senators to postpone the impeachment trial of VP Sara, in order to protect the senators running for re-election from possible punitive judgment by the people. Well, the people can prevent those running for re-election from getting away from harsh judgment.

The same political pundits have indicated how the senators, including those running for re-election, would have voted on the charges against VP Sara. They say that among the senators who would have voted “Not Guilty” if the trial had been held before the mid-term elections are those seeking re-election: Bong Go, Bato de la Rosa, Pia Cayetano, Francis Tolentino, Bong Revilla, and Imee Marcos. They are believed to be supportive of VP Sara because of their close personal relationships to the Dutertes or because they are staunch political allies of the Dutertes.

Meanwhile, current candidate for senator Camille Villar is the daughter of Senator Cynthia Villar, a loyal ally of former President Rodrigo Duterte. In fact, Camille, a member of the House of Representatives, did not sign the impeachment complaint against VP Sara. Neither did Senator Revilla’s wife Lani Mercado, and their sons Bryan and Jolo, all members of the House of Representatives.

Do not vote for candidates who support such political allies.

Oscar P. Lagman, Jr. was formerly the chief operating officer of a health insurance company and consultant to others.