The "word war" getting personal, and worse

 Thinking or talking about Chief Justice Renato Corona’s impeachment trial is enough trigger mechanism to instigate endless debates; or, incur migraine that creates headaches, stomach pains, muscle debilitation accompanied by throwing up food intakes.

 It is a touchy “public quarrel” between the highest office of the land, and the highest magistrate. Both office heads constitute the two branches of governance, that is, the Executive against the Chief Justice of the Judiciary; and also involving as well the Congress as the Legislative branch, with the Lower House as prosecutors, and the Senate as jurors, hearing the trial and, eventually deciding the case.

 Trial is shaping into a judgment of conviction based on the evidence adduced so far, like, the alleged perjured SALNs and many bank accounts of P315M that do not tally with what is shown in respondent’s declared P3.5M balance. But such prosecution theory is subject to the defense theory that may include several doubts, inadmissible prosecution documentary evidence, hearsay, and/or proof not beyond reasonable doubt.

 The long delayed trial is snagged by perceived ineptness of the prosecution panel, the chair’s prolonged “lecture” of sorts in remedial law. There’s also the varied interaction of the 23 Senator-Judges that further delayed the trial which the Chair could not rule out or stop altogether. At the heart of the trial controversy is the interference of the principal protagonists, President “Noynoy” Aquino and Chief Justice Corona that the media aptly dubbed as word war.

 It’s still within tolerance limits for the spokespersons, the likes of Usec. Abigail Valle, or some other “persona” with Palace stature on legal matters during the trial. It is Atty. Edwin Lacierda who usually carries the Palace version. The defense isn’t far behind in the media game because whatever Palace pronouncements, they also have timely counter arguments. The defense side who take the legal cudgels for the CJ are young women lawyers and young male lawyers. Both the prosecution and the defense have a panel of lawyers as their respective spokespersons who face the media for interviews.

 But the highest attention-getter is President Noynoy Aquino himself, in his speeches, interviews, or answering pointed questions from the press or radio/TV corps trying to catch up to him hurriedly moving and in harried mood. In this word war, the CJ has also up his gear, and no longer subdued.

 And it has come to a point that PNoy became so personal in his condemnation of the CJ that the latter became bellicose and more aggressively assertive. This was unlike his previous demeanor that he behaved calmly without throwing scathing words.

 One recalls PNoy’s “unpresidential” side when he angrily berated CJ Corona who was literally at spitting distance on the lower left side of the rostrum. The latter who was figuratively “roasted” just stayed calm, reticent, and didn’t walk out as PNoy didn’t mince his shaming words against the highest figure of the Judiciary equal to the Executive.

In short, CJ Corona has taken in stride the President’s verbal onslaught, but no longer just “passive” inter-actor, but also angrily assertive as in tit for tat, like, two women in “word war,” possibly coming to scratching grips trying to scratch each other’s faces and gouge each other’s eyes.