The first week of the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte has passed – and to me, surprisingly, it was one of the most boring political dramas I’ve ever seen.
When I use the word “boring” here, I mean no fireworks of any kind.
No violent reactions from both sides of the political fence, if you don’t count the confrontations between pro- and anti-Duterte protesters and authorities outside the Senate in the first few days of the trial.
There wasn’t a hint of the threatened “bloodbath” made by some ultra-die hard Duterte supporters.
In fact, surprisingly, even Senators who were clearly pro-Duterte behaved at their best, even though the arguments and counter-arguments among the senators who are now serving as impeachment judges have nearly led to heated discussions and confrontations.
It’s quite a far cry from the drama and violence that had erupted in the Senate just a month or so ago that had had the entire nation holding its breath for the very survival of the government.
Even though I missed the brilliant minds of the late Senators like Miriam Defensor-Santiago and Joker Arroyo who presided over the impeachment trial of former Chief Justice Renato Corona in 2012, it’s refreshing to witness our government officials, for once, performing their respective duties.
And this is exactly what “rule and order” in a democracy should work, in my opinion.
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Filipinos, they say, have loved drama – to an extent that drama has become part and parcel of our everyday lives. And I’m not just talking about politics, but about our everyday interactions with the people around us.
Konting gusot, konting hindi pagkakaintindihan, simpleng sinabihan lang ng hindi, drama agad. Komprontasyon agad. Init agad ng ulo ang pinapairal.
Parang yung napanood ko sa Facebook na dalawang naka-motorsiklo na nagkabanggaan sa gitna ng kalsada, tapos yung dalawang rider e kaagad dinaan sa suntukan. As in banggaan, then boksingan – ni hindi hindi man lamang nagpaliwanagan o nag-usap.
Ang problema, kapag sobra na tayong nahumaling sa drama, at naging parte na ng buhay natin ang drama, diyan mas tumitigas ang ulo at puso ng ating mga mamamayan.
Hindi na tayo nagkakaroon ng pagkakataon na maunawaan ang pulso ng magkabilang panig sa isyu. Ang agad nating pinaiiral, yung punto natin, yung side natin. Ayaw na nating making sa kabilang panig.
At kung ayaw na nating making sa kabilang panig, sa tingin ba natin ay mapagkakaisa pa ba natin ang ating mga mamamayan sa panahong mismong ating soberanya, kalayaan at karapatan ang nanganganib?
If there’s one lesson the impeachment trial of VP Sara is now teaching us, it’s this: enough of the drama. Let’s sit down and have a meeting of the minds. Trust me, that’s how we can move our country forward.
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