Senator-judge Robin Padilla is drawing a barrage of criticisms for his statements in Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial. He could be actually beating the Cayetano siblings in drawing public outrage.

For me, this is unsurprising. This seems to be Plan B of the pro-Duterte camp of senators, after the ouster of Alan Peter Cayetano as Senate president, and the subsequent arrests of Jinggoy Estrada and Rodante Marcoleta. We cannot be that naive to expect them to be quiet, just let the Senate majority go unchallenged, or not mess with the House prosecutors and directly or indirectly assist with what the defense counsels are saying or doing.

The beautiful thing is that the senator-judges cannot get away with anything. Senate President Win Gatchalian and Presiding Officer Chiz Escudero are there, always ready to valiantly keep the order. The majority stalwarts as well cannot be stopped from responding to whatever antics they witness from among other senator-judges. The House prosecutors too are no push-overs.

The soft-spoken but mighty Chel Diokno — who has become the dean of House prosecutors — cannot be forced to be silent. He has educated senator-judges and the nation about the difference between a subpoena and a search warrant in an “intervention” nobody dared to shoot down, because he was simply right.

My point is, while some senator-judges may do their worst to derail and distract public attention or even to scuttle the trial, they cannot easily succeed. They are even ready to be lightning rods of public uproar, making nearly everyone hate them. But there are other senator-judges and there’s the House prosecutors who would not allow the spotlight to be snatched away from the Vice President who is the one being tried by the court.

We have to stay focused, dear friends! The vice president must be held accountable and be made to respond to the serious accusations!

Apart from being lawmakers, the 11 House prosecutors led by Rep. Jinky Luistro are all lawyers. They include a former justice secretary and a founding dean of law school. Backing them up are 15 private prosecutors.

The vice president meanwhile enlisted 16 lawyers for her defense, led by former UPLB student activist-turned-lawyer Sheila Sison. This is solely for her defense in the Senate trial.

The Senate impeachment court has four lawyers among them: Escudero, Pangilinan, and the Cayetano siblings. A fifth is in detention and facing plunder charges. Four (or five) seems a small number compared to the total 24 but the constitution does not say a majority or all lawmakers should be lawyers. Besides, each senator, be they lawyer or not, have lawyers or legal consultants advising them.

Vice President Duterte is fortunate to have not just one, but 16 lawyers to defend her. Heck, she is also a lawyer. Her husband is a lawyer too.

In summary: 26 House prosecutors and private prosecutors, 16 defense counsels, four lawyers among senator-judges, plus at least one legal consultant for each senator. That’s 70 lawyers, minimum.

Add to this the lawyers serving the Senate and the House as institutions like Senate secretary Renato Bantug Jr. and House secretary-general Cheloy Velicaria Garafil. They play key roles in making sure House, Senate and impeachment and inter-chamber protocols are followed.

The witnesses and resource persons too may have their own private counsels to advise them of their rights.

That’s a lot of lawyers, if you ask me or especially other ordinary Filipinos who desperately need lawyers but cannot afford to hire one.

If ever they feel aggrieved midway or after the proceedings, these lawyers could get more lawyers or represent themselves before the Supreme Court (all lawyers) to seek some redress. It seems so easy if you have that easy access to lawyers.

Outside the Senate, Dean Mel Sta. Maria and Dean Tony La Vina who offer explanations on the impeachment proceedings.

We are fortunate to have the National Union of Peoples Lawyers, Free Legal Assistance Group, and the legal aid clinics of the University of the Philippines and the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, as well as other organizations and individual lawyers providing legal advice and representation. May their tribe increase, because we need more of them.

And by we, I mean ordinary citizens who may be caught in labor and landlord disputes, victims of crime and human rights violations, those whose rights are violated by persons in authority, or those who seek to hold public officials accountable. As Romeo Capulong once put it, “brave clients deserve brave lawyers.”