CASTIEL
IT'S MY turn. Today, I would take the stand at the impeachment trial. I was not the one being impeached—though I would surely lose my job in case Priam and Valeria were—but since I was present during the alleged coercion incident, I had to testify.
Handa na ba akong harapin at sagutin ang mga tanong nila? The truth was, no one could be fully prepared for this inquisition. We had a vague idea of the questioning's premise, but our enemies could throw a lucky punch and knock us down even if we stood on a solid ground. My strategy was to demolish the prosecution's arguments if they were too weak, and deflect if they were strong enough.
"Castiel Seville, the chief-of-staff of the University Student Council, will now take the stand," Alaric the Prick announced as soon as he hit the gavel. If he could only bring out a bucket of popcorn, he would probably do so. Watching me squirm here would be a great entertainment for him.
The arrangement in the LEXECOM office was the same as last time. Present sina Priam at Valeria kasama si Helene sa side ng defense habang mag-isa si Kayneth sa side ng ombudsman. I got to my feet and limped my way to the seat in the center of the room. All eyes were on me—from the vultures of the majority bloc to the pigeons of the campus press.
"Mr. Seville, you may now deliver your opening statement," Alaric the Prick said. "We suggest that you keep it short and straight to the point."
"I yield my time, Mister Chair," I replied after moving the mic close to my mouth. Why bother with foreplay if we can jump straight to the action? "I prefer to answer the questions that are pertinent to the purpose of this trial."
"Very well, let the record reflect that Mr. Seville waived his time to deliver his opening statement. The Ombudsman may now begin his cross-examination."
"Mr. Seville," Kayneth called my name as he crossed the floor. His towering figure cast an ominous shadow over me. Dahil nakaupo ako at nakatayo siya, nagmukha siyang higanteng mabagal na umiikot sa akin. "In the previous hearing, the former CCS-CSC chairperson claimed that you and the USC vice president met with him in one of the restaurants in the food hub. Can you confirm that?"
"Yes," I answered. There's no point in denying it. Baka ipatawag pa niyang witness ang isa sa mga waiter doon kapag nagsinungaling ako.
"Can you also confirm that you coerced him to vote in favor of the Freedom of Information motion in exchange for not leaking the findings of your team about the defamation against Fabienne Lucero?"
I had expected him to choose this line of questioning so I was kinda well prepared. "Chevy may have seen it as a coercion, but I consider it a conversation. It's not inappropriate for USC officers to talk to CSC chairpersons about a motion to be decided by the LEXECOM. We wanna make sure that we have the numbers before the vote is held."
"Can you answer categorically?"
"Based on my recollection and understanding, no. We did not coerce Chevy to vote in favor of the motion. At the very least, it did not seem that way to us."
"By denying the coercion, are you also denying that you brought up the investigation initiated by the USC pointing at some CCS students to be behind the spread of fake news about Lucero?"
"We might have brought up the investigation during our conversation, but I can't recall using it as an ammunition to make him vote our way."
That's right. I had to lie . . . and lie more if I wanted to survive this witch hunt. Any hint or admission would be fatal to our case. Gaya sa larong dodgeball, kailangang mabibilis ang reflexes ko at malakas ang presence of mind para hindi ma-out. I was not expecting myself to get out of here unscathed. But I was hoping not to be tied to a stake and be burnt alive.
"Mentioning the so-called investigation in a conversation about the Freedom of Information vote seemed to be out of place, don't you think?" Kayneth asked.
"We didn't want to dive right into the point of our meeting, so I chose to talk about something else first," I answered. "I even asked Chevy if they want to help us cross-check the findings."
I could imagine him watching the live feed of this hearing and shouting, "That's not what happened!" at the screen. Since he was not in possession of any evidence of how our conversation went down, I could easily make up details and shape the conversation the way I wanted—like water taking the form of the container of my own choosing.
"So you're denying that you coerced him to vote in favor of the Freedom of Information motion and that you used the results of your internal investigation?" Kayneth looked me straight in the eye as if he was trying to read my mind. He's a Political Science person, not a Psychology student. There was no way he could decode my thoughts.
"To my knowledge and understanding, we didn't coerce him or anyone," I answered with a slow shaking of my head.
His gaze lingered on me for a few more seconds before walking back to his desk. Hmm? I thought that he was about to end his cross-examination, but he grabbed the laptop there instead. This doesn't look good. He was not planning to wave the white flag yet!
"I would like to play this clip and submit it as evidence right after." Kayneth held up a flash drive. "This is a copy of the audio clip recorded by Mr. Serrano during his conversation with the USC vice president and the chief-of-staff."
WHAT?!
Almost everyone in the gallery let out a gasp. Is he bluffing? Is he telling the truth? I swallowed the lump in my throat as I turned to Val whose eyes went so wide, they almost popped out of their sockets. Priam also sat frozen in his seat. My gaze flicked to Helene who quickly sprang from her seat.
"Objection!" she exclaimed. "That so-called evidence should have been presented and submitted when Serrano was at the witness stand. The defense moves to deem that audio clip inadmissible."
"We were unable to present it during the first hearing because Serrano had to retrieve it from his cloud drive." Kayneth faced the chairpersons. "In the previous hearing, he mentioned that he was trying to retrieve it. Now, he managed to do so."
"I would also like to clarify that this is not an official criminal trial. Therefore, some legal procedures do not apply here," Alaric the Prick added. Of course, he would defend the admission of that evidence even if it was recorded without our consent! In a court of law, that recording would have been inadmissible. Puwede pa nga naming kasuhan ng paglabag sa Anti-Wiretapping Law ang Chevy na 'yon!
I clicked my tongue. That Chevy . . . Talaga ngang sinet-up niya kami mula sa umpisa. Wait, I'm giving him too much credit. Everything must be Alaric the Prick's idea. No offense to the five other chairpersons in the majority bloc, but none of them was capable of devising that strategy.
Ang akala ko'y tapos na ang sakit sa ulo na ibibigay ni Chevy sa amin. May part two pa pala? I could not say that this was completely unexpected, but I did not expect the bombshell to be a freaking audio clip. He was using our words against us!
"Let's hear it." Alaric the Prick gestured to the Ombudsman. "If the contents of that audio clip are relevant to the charges against the accused, they shall be deemed admissible."
"Thank you, Mister Chair. I assure you that they are." Kayneth plugged the flash drive into his laptop and made a few taps. Tanging ang tunog ng pag-press niya sa keyboard ang narinig sa kuwarto.
I swallowed the lump in my throat again. Hindi ko na napigilan ang panginginig ng mga tuhod ko. Mabuti't natatakpan ng desk ang aking mga binti. Otherwise, they would have seen it as a tell-tale sign of guilt. Calm down, self!
When I began hearing familiar voices, I squeezed my eyes shut and hung my head low.
"Puwede nating pag-usapan 'to. We can pretend that we didn't receive this report and we won't share it with The Herald. Wala nang free ngayon, kaya siyempre, may kapalit."
"My vote in favor of the bill?"
"Now that's a good idea! Maybe we can make do with you just saying yes once the voting for the Freedom of Information bill is held on Friday. What do you think?"
"Puwede akong mag-file ng complaint laban sa inyo. I can move to impeach Priam and you, Val."
"You can try. But do you have any evidence to substantiate your claim? Kasi kami, meron. These files will be enough to take you and your council down. Baka ikaw pa nga ang ipa-impeach sa college n'yo."
While the damning audio clip was playing and while everyone was listening to it, I tried to maintain calmness and composure. All eyes were on me. Even the simplest gestures—my breathing included—could be interpreted in many ways. My eyes widening, my lips twitching, or my temples pulsating could be seen as a sign of guilt. No, I must look as expressionless as a marble statue, staring blankly at the wall. But deep inside, I was already screaming.
Darn it . . . DARN IT!
This was the fault of my carelessness. If only I didn't . . . Well, there was no use in blaming myself or anyone for this ordeal. The past had come biting me back in the ass. Now, I had to do something to get it off my rear and suture the wound. The tiger's bite, however, was potentially fatal. It could either kill us or leave us with one limb torn off.
"And that's the most interesting part of the recording," Kayneth concluded after tapping a key on his laptop. "Now, I want to ask if the chief-of-staff would like to change any of his previous responses?"
No, I won't give him or Alaric the Prick any satisfaction. Walking back on my answers would only paint a guilty image. I got no other choice but to move forward. Keep swinging, keep deflecting.
"I do not recall having that conversation with Chevy," I answered with a straight face. Some people in the room gasped. They probably did not expect me to deny it even with a strong evidence staring me right in the face.
"But you heard the exact same clip. You heard your own voice, as well as the USC vice president's and Serrano's. That should have made you recall your meeting."
"That's not how our conversation went," I insisted, shaking my head slowly.
"Then how do you explain your voice recorded in the clip?"
"Given the technology today, my voice in there could have been AI-generated. I won't be surprised if they employed an extremely deplorable method just to take us down for an accusation that doesn't hold water." Not gonna lie. I was spitballing any possible excuse that I could think of just to slither out of this mess. "The fact that it took days for Chevy to allegedly retrieve that clip could have given him enough time to fabricate a recording. If you want proof, we can find an expert capable of producing an audio recording using our voices—"
"The defense requests to have that audio clip authenticated by a legitimate sound engineer before admitting it as evidence," Helene said abruptly, probably saving me from further digging our graves. "The chief-of-staff has raised some valid concerns. There are a number of ways to produce such recording using the advance technology at present. It could be AI. It could be deep fake. Only an expert can prove or disprove it."
"We understand the points raised by the defense," Alaric the Prick said with a nod. Tumingin siya sa lalaking nakatayo malapit sa akin. "The Ombudsman is hereby directed to seek authentication from a sound engineer or any expert in that field."
"That is noted, Mister Chair," Kayneth replied. "With that, I yield my time for the cross-examination."
"Does the defense want to take the floor?"
"Since we're going to wait for the authentication, we move to suspend today's hearing. That audio clip is crucial in this trial. We need to verify its authenticity first before we can ask more questions."
"The motion to suspend is granted," Alaric the Prick declared after consulting his fellow vultures. Yes, I called them vultures because they were just eagerly waiting for us to get butchered here so they could feast on our corpses. "We ask the Ombudsman to present the authentication in the next hearing if possible so we can proceed to our next witness."
"Thank you, Mister Chair."
Now, the situation had taken a grave turn. I walked straight into a quicksand pit and dragged the entire USC with me. The good news? We had not fully sunk yet. Half of our body was trapped while the other half could pull ourselves out. The bad news? There was seemingly no branch around that we could grab on.
Only we could save us. Maybe only I could save us.
♔
NEXT UPDATE: Our favorite campus journalist gets served with a hot cup of afternoon tea from the theater production.