A Word on the Corona Trial -
It is my hope that
(1) our representative peers in the Senate
obtains for us a fair result from out of this trial and that
(2) the nation unto whose entirety we all ultimately belong
benefits from and grows stronger from having undergone this ordeal,
(3) justice is done to all parties involved, and finally
(4) that this trial does not become a dangerous preoccupation for our Republic
that we forget to duly apply our energies on other matters
just as vital and at times, even more pressing.
Mabuhay! God be with us all.
(We Shall Persevere)
It is my hope that
(1) our representative peers in the Senate
obtains for us a fair result from out of this trial and that
(2) the nation unto whose entirety we all ultimately belong
benefits from and grows stronger from having undergone this ordeal,
(3) justice is done to all parties involved, and finally
(4) that this trial does not become a dangerous preoccupation for our Republic
that we forget to duly apply our energies on other matters
just as vital and at times, even more pressing.
Mabuhay! God be with us all.
(We Shall Persevere)
Senator-judges of the Republic,
each of you servants-elect of the nation
and my fellow Filipinos -
It now falls upon your shoulders
the unenviable task to make fair each thy judgments
on this very difficult impeachment trial.
As thy fellow citizen
equally engaged with each of thee
in this, our one Republic of the Philippines,
I only ask that in that coming hour of judgment
you do not lose sight of her vision and longevity;
that you should make your decisions independently
but not as individuals against an individual
even in this case, our very own Chief Justice,
but as instruments within a whole
presently charged with the specific task
of ensuring that the whole perseveres correctly
and in the most efficient way possible.
I have no doubt
that our Republic will persevere
and God-helping, ultimately prevail
regardless of the verdict.
How fast or how far
depends upon each of you
in that hour of judgement
just as how soon and how completely
depends upon all of us working together
as one heart, one people, one Country.
Do justice to thy nation first,
bearing into mind and heart that
we all move forward as one
only according to the weakest,
and most vulnerable elements
within our society.
This trial is unprecedented
in the pain and confusion it has wrought
against each our nationhood within
and while it is not as divisive
as the other rifts that need our concentrated efforts
it has nonetheless been
the most painful to witness
and experience in our lifetimes.
Our Chief Justice
is a public servant
and so is our President.
It was never fair in the first place
to have had to be made
to choose between the two.
The branches of our Republic
of whose Seats of Office they serve
and duly occupy being co-equal
to each thy own, Senators,
you all know without a doubt
what kind of an ordeal our beloved Republic,
replete with her own institutional memories
and collective remembrance
that shall far surpass and exceed us
beyond these times and persons,
has undertaken and undergone
to bring this trial forth into fruition
and now
it is time to reap
what was has been sown.
Your judgments as a whole
must contain - in each themselves -
the necessary provisions
that ensure that the rudiments
of a functional peace is preserved
between the complimentary branches
of the Executive and the Judiciary
as well as the collective wisdom to guide together
the path of these two separate branches
of necessary institutional human governance
within our one Republic whole
so that their co-equal, interdependent, democratic lineages
may in time find themselves perfectly conjoined
in harmony and maximum working order once again
and united with thy own
and in peace with the people
and so ever thus, far into the future!
For these are crucial times.
We should never again
stand so divided in our innermost self
as a Republic.
---<--@
A Personal Retrospective -
Something in me was restored
watching our senators yesterday,
something precious...
It was not the judgment
that I myself hold as remarkable
but the process - wherein -
our representative Senate,
empowered by our Constitution,
created for all a path
where there was previously none.
The final decision to convict
being not at all a judgment of individuals
but a single collegiate act of the Senate body
was delivered in decisive fashion.
The brave minority decision
as well as that of the majority
together form something
unprecedented...
But only if one so chooses to rise above
the persons and personalities of our own times
into the realm of ideals and visions
where dwells the spirit of our Constitution
and the Peace of our Republic.
We are indeed better off
for believing than disbelieving,
in hoping than in despairing,
in being better than in being bitter.
---<--@
Reflection -
If we hate our own institutions within our own Republic,
who shall be left to serve them?
How can these branches of Republic service bear for us trustworthy fruit
if we who are its stewards forsake to nurture them even in spirit?
How can any Country mature without its institutions?
---<--@
each of you servants-elect of the nation
and my fellow Filipinos -
It now falls upon your shoulders
the unenviable task to make fair each thy judgments
on this very difficult impeachment trial.
As thy fellow citizen
equally engaged with each of thee
in this, our one Republic of the Philippines,
I only ask that in that coming hour of judgment
you do not lose sight of her vision and longevity;
that you should make your decisions independently
but not as individuals against an individual
even in this case, our very own Chief Justice,
but as instruments within a whole
presently charged with the specific task
of ensuring that the whole perseveres correctly
and in the most efficient way possible.
I have no doubt
that our Republic will persevere
and God-helping, ultimately prevail
regardless of the verdict.
How fast or how far
depends upon each of you
in that hour of judgement
just as how soon and how completely
depends upon all of us working together
as one heart, one people, one Country.
Do justice to thy nation first,
bearing into mind and heart that
we all move forward as one
only according to the weakest,
and most vulnerable elements
within our society.
This trial is unprecedented
in the pain and confusion it has wrought
against each our nationhood within
and while it is not as divisive
as the other rifts that need our concentrated efforts
it has nonetheless been
the most painful to witness
and experience in our lifetimes.
Our Chief Justice
is a public servant
and so is our President.
It was never fair in the first place
to have had to be made
to choose between the two.
The branches of our Republic
of whose Seats of Office they serve
and duly occupy being co-equal
to each thy own, Senators,
you all know without a doubt
what kind of an ordeal our beloved Republic,
replete with her own institutional memories
and collective remembrance
that shall far surpass and exceed us
beyond these times and persons,
has undertaken and undergone
to bring this trial forth into fruition
and now
it is time to reap
what was has been sown.
Your judgments as a whole
must contain - in each themselves -
the necessary provisions
that ensure that the rudiments
of a functional peace is preserved
between the complimentary branches
of the Executive and the Judiciary
as well as the collective wisdom to guide together
the path of these two separate branches
of necessary institutional human governance
within our one Republic whole
so that their co-equal, interdependent, democratic lineages
may in time find themselves perfectly conjoined
in harmony and maximum working order once again
and united with thy own
and in peace with the people
and so ever thus, far into the future!
For these are crucial times.
We should never again
stand so divided in our innermost self
as a Republic.
---<--@
A Personal Retrospective -
Something in me was restored
watching our senators yesterday,
something precious...
It was not the judgment
that I myself hold as remarkable
but the process - wherein -
our representative Senate,
empowered by our Constitution,
created for all a path
where there was previously none.
The final decision to convict
being not at all a judgment of individuals
but a single collegiate act of the Senate body
was delivered in decisive fashion.
The brave minority decision
as well as that of the majority
together form something
unprecedented...
But only if one so chooses to rise above
the persons and personalities of our own times
into the realm of ideals and visions
where dwells the spirit of our Constitution
and the Peace of our Republic.
We are indeed better off
for believing than disbelieving,
in hoping than in despairing,
in being better than in being bitter.
---<--@
Reflection -
If we hate our own institutions within our own Republic,
who shall be left to serve them?
How can these branches of Republic service bear for us trustworthy fruit
if we who are its stewards forsake to nurture them even in spirit?
How can any Country mature without its institutions?
---<--@