Senator ousts opposition viewers

Philippine President Joseph Estrada's impeachment trial was suspended temporarily yesterday as arguments broke out among senators. Proceedings ground to a halt for around 40 minutes after a quarrel between opposing senator judges and a confrontation with the public gallery.

In a closed door meeting, the court – which will decide the embattled Estrada's political future – ordered three spectators to be barred permanently from attending the trial and issued a statement attacking attempts to pressure judges.

Senator Miriam Santiago, visibly angered by catcalls, stood up and accused three viewers, saying they should step out of the gallery because their noise and their provocative way of looking at her were disrupting the senate impeachment trial of Estrada.

Senator Aquilino Pimentel said the three were barred forever from attending the hearing, following a 40 minute caucus of the senate which was prompted by Santiago who said decorum should be observed by those attending the trial.

The three opposition viewers were identified as Chairman Dante Jimenez of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) and scions of wealthy families, Betina Aboitiz and Rosanna Tuazon Fores.

Right after Chief Justice Hilario Davide instructed the pages to take the names and addresses of the three, Senate President Aquilino Pimentel suspended the proceedings. Santiago was already angry when she taunted the prosecution witness, Jasmine Banal, for having left a law firm headed by Estrada's lawyer, Eduardo Serapio, to work for a low salary giving law firm linked to anti-Estrada groups.

Banal had testified that she had been forced to sign as incorporator of a dummy corporation of Estrada's. When opposition senator Raul Roco came to the defence of Banal, saying it was all right for lawyers to leave their old jobs for idealism, many in the gallery craned their necks, and some stood up to get a clearer view of Santiago.

As this happened, a fuming Santiago rose from her seat and told Roco: "Senators should raise their questions with the witness and not try to initiate a debate or colloquy with their own fellow senators."

When she heard a commotion in the crowd, Santiago called a point of order, pointed her finger at the three people and said: "They feel so high above the law (that they) have deliberately gone out of their way to provoke a judge into disturbing another senator-judge and indeed the entire impeachment proceedings."

Aboitiz is a village councilor in posh Forbes Park, Makati, while Tuazon-Forres is the first cousin of Mike Tuazon Arroyo, husband of Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. She is married to the son of Dr. Raul Fores, the personal physician of former President Fidel Ramos.

Jimenez and the two women were escorted to the office of Senate sergeant-at-arms, Brig. Gen. Leonardo Lopez, amid a media frenzy. They were kept behind closed doors for about 30 minutes before Lopez allowed mediamen to come in and talk to the three.

"We just moved forward and stooped" to watch the proceedings, they said. Their vision was blocked by a huge column, they added. Aboitiz added: "We didn't do anything unruly. Are we not even allowed to lean forward (to watch the proceedings)."

Fores said: "I was shocked. Senator Santiago first pointed to two men in grey, then looked at us." The three said they were denied "due process" when their side of the matter was not taken into consideration before the impeachment court decided to bar them permanently from attending the proceedings.

Jimenez also pointed out that he had every right to witness the proceedings because he was one of the complainants in the impeachment proceedings in the House of Representatives. Jimenez charged that it was not Santiago's but their rights that had been violated by the senator-judge. "Even our freedom of movement (was violated) at the Senate which represents democracy and freedom of expression,"Jimenez said.