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MANILA, Philippines – It’s a reunion that is almost two months late. The House impeachment team gathered for dinner Tuesday night, January 29, to catch up and reminisce.
The reunion was supposed to happen on Dec 12, 2012, to mark the first year they impeached former Chief Justice Renato Corona. But it was the same night the House of Representatives passed the Reproductive Health bill on second reading.
It was a night of laughter, said former prosecution spokesperson Marikina City Rep Romero “Miro” Quimbo, who posted a photo of the reunion on his twiitter account @miroquimbo.
“A lot of discussion and laughter on watershed moments of the impeachment trial. Stories were being shared for the first time regarding the bank documents we had received anonymously,” Quimbo said.
“We were recalling the vociferous debates we had on trial direction,” Quimbo added.
It was a difficult 5-month long trial. It was the first time for many of the representatives – previously confined to their little districts – to experience full national media attention. And because of obvious lack of preparation and some miscalculations throughout the trial, House prosecutors were bullied and beaten black and blue at the impeachment court.
“Our biggest realization really was how a rag tag group managed to successfully impeach a constitutional officer for the first time. It’s so difficult to imagine that we were in the impeachment war zone everyday for 5 months,” Quimbo added.
The highlight of the night was reliving the memories of the trial’s troubles and successes, especially when it reached the stage of exposing Corona’s controversial bank documents. The discovery of Corona’s dollar accounts – and his admission later on – prompted senators to vote for his conviction.
The difficulties paid off for many of the team members.
For the May elections, “we observed that most of the impeachment congressmen are either unopposed or facing token opponents,” Quimbo said.
Quimbo will serve as the Liberal Party spokesperson for the senatorial race. – Rappler.com
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