Bored crowds at the arena

The crowds are bored, the TV stations and radio stations are panicking, and the Emperor’s people are desperately calling upon citizens to stay tuned. Unfortunately since there has been no quick kill at the arena, viewership ratings are disastrous.

Despite all efforts and statements from Malacañang drumbeaters, in spite of the non-stop self-promotion of the Congressional Prosecution team, there has been no quick kill or great scores for the home team. In spite of their home-court advantage, the Prosecution team and Malacañang have failed to turn the tide of boredom and disinterest in the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona.

Even some TV hosts have tried to appeal to people to watch and take interest in the coverage because the outcome will benefit succeeding generations of Filipinos. Unfortunately none of that has worked.

A recent survey has come out showing that viewership of the impeachment has waned and anecdotally speaking, most people seem to watch only in passing. Most of those who watch do so out of curiosity and to learn a new legal angle or phrase. Otherwise, people are actually using their time doing something more important or relevant to their daily lives, like earning a living.

This is certainly disastrous for the major networks who were counting on having two to six months more of this “free” made for TV political reality show. If the drop in viewership continues, the TV stations will now have to go back to expensive regular programing and just rely on their reporters for updates.

The networks mistake is that they treated the impeachment trial of the Chief Justice much the same way they cover the fights of boxing champion Manny Pacquiao or the one-sided investigations conducted by Congress in the past. In both events someone always draws blood and someone always gets hurt. The Impeachment trial however is something more intellectual, legalistic and requiring more than blow-by-blow accounts.

In order to make the coverage and the dialogues therein relevant, the networks need to bring in competent, UNBIASED lawyers and professors of law who can go beyond recounting the process but enlightening people on the relevance and impact of the process on the case and upon ordinary individuals because that is what legal proceedings are about; a process that defines or redefines the law and the impact of evidence. The coverage should be a show and tell, teach and learn approach.

To drive the point home one particular station always calls on a law professor to expound on the impeachment process and the professor more than expounds but opinionates. Our opinion has no bearing on the proceedings and simply serves to taint or put color on the integrity or competency of the people involved.

We need to teach not opinionate as far as the coverage of the trial is concerned.

The waning interest in the impeachment may be momentary but if it stretches to more than a week or two, it may be ominous in a way. When the general population becomes disinterested in the process, they will most likely be disinterested or detached with the outcome.

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There is a loud whisper that Congressman Rudy Farinas may soon be taking over as lead Prosecutor in the trial. I will not make any conjecture as to “why” this may happen, but if it does, it will have the equivalent effect of openly admitting and confirming that the impeachment team is truly weak and incompetent. 

Even before the fact, Farinas should seriously consider that some “opportunities” might bite you.

First of all, I remember Manong Rudy saying or being quoted as saying that he himself did not sign the impeachment complaint for the purpose of showing his objectivity. Some ordinary people are already challenging if someone who has committed the sin of Omission should be commissioned to lead the case.

Personally, I worry that Farinas who is considered a very good lawyer might be set-up to feel like the mythical David versus Goliath, only to find himself squashed on the battlefield while the “army” runs for cover.

In addition to that, there is the distinct possibility that Farinas could find himself further frustrated by the Supreme Court. So far the SC has kept out of the fight or the trial of their Chief Justice because Corona’s team has been doing a superb job.

But that does not preclude the Supreme Court from issuing a TRO, locking horns with Malacañang and Congress and getting into a full scale Constitutional crisis, if the SC feels that their Chief Justice is being unfairly treated or is being lynched.

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