Protagonists celebrate birthday at Senate trial

They’re fighting what is considered the greatest legal battle in the country’s history.

Yet Makati Rep. Joker Arroyo and lawyer Estelito Mendoza, two protagonists in the ongoing impeachment trial of President Estrada, share many things in common. They even have the same birthday.

Arroyo and Mendoza celebrated their birthday yesterday at the Senate and were greeted by well-wishers led by their former law professor, Chief Justice Hilario Davide, who is presiding over the impeachment court.

Arroyo did not greet Mendoza directly. Instead he merely smiled when he said he would be presenting an explosive witness which his fellow prosecutor, Agusan Rep. Roan Libarios, labeled as Arroyo’s "birthday exposé" and his "gift to himself".

Mendoza, on the other hand, voiced his birthday wish for Arroyo. "I wish him good health and long life," he said, adding that his personal birthday wish is for the trial to be over soon so his client, the President, could be immediately acquitted.

The two protagonists were classmates at the University of the Philippines law school, graduating in 1952. They even belonged to the same campus fraternity – the Upsilon.

But the similarities ended there. As lawyers, the two never had the chance to work for the same client. In most cases, they were even on the opposite sides, battling each other in court rooms.

During the years of President Ferdinand Marcos, Mendoza served as solicitor general and justice minister while Arroyo was a staunch human rights lawyer who kept filing charges against the late dictator.

Arroyo is known in law circles as the first to challenge the constitutionality of Marcos’ declaration of martial law in 1972. He was also known as a close ally of Marcos’ best nemesis, the late Sen. Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino. He became executive secretary when Aquino’s widow Corazon rose to power after Marcos’ ouster.

Mendoza up to the present still serves as legal counsel for the Marcoses. He also handles the legal battles of known Marcos cronies and friends of the President.

Despite their constant battles, however, Mendoza revealed that his and Arroyo’s families still greet each other during holidays. Last Christmas, for instance, he said their wives still exchanged gifts in spite of the impeachment trial.

"We also did favors for each other," Mendoza said. He noted that during martial law, he granted a request of Arroyo to see Aquino in prison.

Arroyo returned the favor when he helped Mendoza secure a Philippine passport during Aquino’s regime.

Former Chief Justice Andres Narvasa, who is one of the President’s lawyers, said a victory in the impeachment trial would be the perfect birthday gift and crowning glory for Arroyo and Mendoza. "They have a long history of legal battles," he said.