The simplicity and clarity of her words caught me off guard. She did not speak from a podium. Seated, she spoke at ground level as if speaking directly to you and me. She addressed those in the Senate hall as well as those plying the streets or listening at home, the hoi polloi, the great unwashed, the overseas Filipino workers, the restless, lonely, and angry. And why not the chauffeured and coiffured, the scoundrels and saints, the trolls. The hopeful.
Batangas Rep. Gerville “Jinky” Luistro, lead counsel of the prosecution panel in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, delivered on Monday the opening salvo before the senator-judges on behalf of her team, which includes 11 members from the House of Representatives and 15 private prosecutors serving pro bono. Speaking in Filipino and English, Luistro explained the significance of the impeachment process; she laid it all in black and white in 17 minutes.
No theatrics, no schmaltzy pronouncements, no attempts to show off erudition in order to impress, no soaring philippics and hyperboles. She kept it simple, but loud enough, understandable, and thus powerful. Her words—and voice as well—cut like a sword.
Translated from Filipino: “It might be said that this trial is far from people’s lives. It is not, because we are dealing with something that people own—their money, their trust, their right to ask for accountability from those whom they trusted.”
(Okay, I said this first: I think Luistro’s opening statement should be listened to and studied by as young as high school students for them to pick out what rang true to them and reflect on it. Political affiliations notwithstanding, what does the piece say to them right now that they can carry into the future? What does accountability mean?)
Luistro laid out the alleged high crimes the VP is accused of and must face. She tackled each one: the misuse of confidential funds, unexplained wealth, bribery and graft, and assassination threats against particular persons, President Marcos among them. And so, we await with bated breath what is in the prosecution’s bag. Accountability and evidence were her mantras.
While trolls kept up their tirades against Luistro on social media, legal biggies weighed in, among them, former law dean Mel Sta. Maria: “[Luistro] recognized that this state of the impeachment trial is the political part, not YET the evidentiary portion of the trial. Instead of getting bogged down on the details of the evidence, she firmly captured the high moral high ground. She spoke directly to the core values that every Filipino must protect, framing the issue not as a mere debate, but as a profound concern for the future of the Republic.
“[She] brought the room to life. She was expressive, commanding, and radiated an authentic energy. Every gesture, every facial expression, and every shift in her tone showed someone who was not just reciting a legal brief, but genuinely carrying the pulse and sentiments of the Filipino people.”
In other words, the listener of whatever stripe or color should have been able to understand what she was saying. And agree or disagree.
She asked the question most people are asking: If ordinary Filipinos—the barangay official, the school principal, etc.—are held to account, why not those in high positions? “May saysay pa ba ang pananagutan sa ating bansa?” (Does accountability still mean anything in this country?) “Ang kapangyarihan ay hindi pagaari. Hiram lang ito. Public office is a public trust.”
She promised evidence: “Hindi tsismis, hindi haka-haka, hindi socmed narratives, but evidence—official records, video recordings, financial documents, statements made under oath, independent findings of institutions created by law. Dokumento na hindi bumuboto.”
Years from now, she said, future generations will not remember today’s political alliances, headlines, or slogans. What they will remember, she added, is that when accountability was tested, the institutions of the republic stood firm. They will remember only one thing: what this court did when the Constitution called.
This is the moment, she kept repeating, that the Constitution anticipated when the accountability must mean exactly what it says, that public office remains a public trust, when the republic must demonstrate that the laws are applied equally to the powerful and the powerless alike.
To conclude, Luistro presented what the prosecution believes must be made right: “ang tiwalang pinagkaloob ay nilabag, ang kapangyarihang ipinahiram ay inabuso; at ang Constitution mismo ang humihingi ng pananagutan.”
She ended with the quote for all seasons: Salus populi suprema lex. The welfare of the people is the supreme law.
My own all-time favorite: Fiat justitia ruat caelum. Let justice be done though the heavens fall.
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