Gary Rivera told me a lawyer joke last week. God and the devil were locked in a heated argument, so the story goes, and as the devil became more abusive, God in exasperation threatened to bring him to court. Go ahead, the devil dared the Lord. Let’s see if you can find a lawyer among your population.
I’ve heard the joke before but I was nevertheless all ears to Gary. After all, he is the only doctor I have trusted to tinker with that part of my anatomy.
Tomorrow, I will tell him that the Lord’s problem has been solved. He has summoned three of the most competent Cebuano trial lawyers and they all heeded the call.
Danny Deen, Maning Legaspi and Kaye Cañete passed within days of each other. They were among my closest friends in the legal community and I know that the Cebu bar’s loss is Heaven’s gain.
Other than the law, the passion that they had in common was politics. Maning once served in the Cebu City Council, Kaye was mayor of Liloan before the Frascos came home from the US, and Danny could have become a Cebu City congressman had the brothers Sonny and Lito Osmeña not ganged up on him and convinced Cory Aquino to raise his opponent’s hands three days before the elections. In fairness, the rival that Danny lost to was an equally good man.
I would have loved discussing politics with them, singly or together, like we did in the past. There are so many issues that are difficult to miss: Carpio versus Marcoleta and whether their names should be mentioned in the same sentence, the impending trial of Rodrigo Duterte by the International Criminal Court (ICC), the reported warrant for the arrest of two sitting senators of the Republic and the declaration by Sara Duterte that she will run for president in 2028.
The last would have been our hottest political topic. While early declarations of ambition are not unprecedented, the timing and context of the Vice President’s announcement indicate that it is not a routine political move but a deliberate and measured response to a fast evolving threat to her political future.
We would have all agreed that the early filing and the quick dismissal of the impeachment complaint against Bongbong Marcos, the renewed and reinvigorated effort to push Sara out of the vice presidency through impeachment and the uncertainty surrounding her father’s fate in the ICC have factored tremendously on her presidential declaration.
It is a strategic countermeasure. The question is, has Sara now seized the narrative? Has she succeeded in showing to the public that far from being beleaguered, she is in fact strong and unbowed, a national leader the people can trust and rally around?
And how will the other half of the Uniteam and his allies in Congress react? Will they speed up the impeachment process through a plenary vote and endorse it to the Senate for trial?
And even more importantly, how does this bode for the nation?
On this, we would have had a more spirited discussion, Danny, Maning, Kaye and I. Alas, I can only wish now.
Godspeed, guys. Teach the devil a lesson he will not soon forget and make God a happy client.