‘Guided by the Holy Spirit’?

No one has the monopoly of the Holy Spirit, or so we are told. But I could not, for the life of me, believe what I heard Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa declare at the Senate last Tuesday: that he “was guided by the Holy Spirit.”

Dela Rosa moved to block the quest for the truth by making a resolution to dismiss the impeachment cases filed against Vice President Sara Duterte. How else to call it if not blocking? He credited the Holy Spirit in his off-the-cuff ending to his prepared speech that he read from paper.

Dela Rosa is a staunch supporter of the VP and her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, under whom he served as Philippine National Police chief. He was the chief enforcer of Duterte’s brutal war against drugs that saw thousands killed summarily or without due process. A warrant of arrest for him could be expected from the International Criminal Court in The Hague, where the elder Duterte, arrested last March, is now detained and will soon be tried.

After I heard Dela Rosa give credit to the Holy Spirit, I thought I sensed the ominous soundtrack of “Jaws 1” playing in my head. My brain could not wrap itself around what he said.

To think that the senators had not, at the time that Dela Rosa rose to declare his stand, even taken their collective oath to act as senator-judges and hear out all parties concerned. He was jumping the gun and so he was forthwith made to know why. (Yes, that contentious F word in Article XI, Section 4 of the 1987 Constitution that is now emblazoned on T-shirts.)

I would not know the process of spiritual and prayerful discernment that Dela Rosa might have gone through for him to be able to blurt out so breezily and confidently that he “was guided by the Holy Spirit.” I do not wish to sound sanctimonious, but methinks the Holy Spirit will surely not block the search for the truth, but, in fact, would forthwith inspire that the truth be laid bare for all to see and believe—or not believe. Pentecost Sunday or the Feast of the Holy Spirit was only some days ago, so the topic is still de rigueur even while Filipinos are now bracing themselves against storm clouds sighted on the horizon—literally and figuratively.

Notwithstanding the Pinoy-style puns on social media generated by Dela Rosa’s citing of the Holy Spirit, I say with all due respect that the Bible itself strongly warns about “blasphemy against the Holy Spirit” that includes, among many, “deliberate denial of the truth” and disrespectful speech or actions directed at God as former president Rodrigo Duterte so blithely did when he was president. Muslims, bless them, are more severe in the anti-blasphemy department compared to Christians who readily turn the other cheek.

Where in the Bible, you ask? Ask Google, grab the holy book and read. As the self-confessed sinner-turned-saint Augustine recalled about the mysterious voice he heard, “Tolle lege.” (Take up and read, a favorite of bookworms.)

Anyway, as it turned out, that very same Tuesday night, the senator-judges who forthwith donned crimson robes after taking their oath voted (18 for and 5 against) to “remand” or send back the articles of impeachment to the members of the House of Representatives. This was for the HOR to certify that there were no infirmities or anomalous inclusions in there, etc., etc., etc. Still, the question begs an answer: Why?

Perchance to derail, delay, detour, deny, dismiss?

To quote Shakespeare: “Full of sound and fury signifying nothing.”

Anyway, the HOR plenary has forthwith certified that the impeachment initiated on Feb. 5, 2025, has fully complied with the Constitution. But it has deferred acceptance of the articles of impeachment until the Senate has answered questions from the HOR prosecution panel. Foggy road here.

And so, yesterday, Independence Day, church and civil society groups gathered to denounce the Senate and the impeachment trial delay. Bayan president Renato Reyes aptly described the delay as “legal gymnastics” and “a shameful abdication of their constitutional mandate.” Groups from different church denominations issued a statement (“One Faith, One Nation, One Voice”) demanding transparency and denouncing Sara Duterte’s alleged misuse of public funds both as vice president and as former education secretary. An Inquirer report noted that the outcry is spreading in different parts of the country.

The VP is facing several other charges, among them—betrayal of public trust, graft and corruption, involvement in extrajudicial killings, and even alleged hiring of an assassin! Learn more as the trial unfolds. Forthwith/perchance to convict or acquit, but primarily to expose.

A long road ahead. We never know what other blocks might be thrown along the way, with or without “the guidance of the Holy Spirit.”

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