The current imbroglio between Comelec Chief Andy Bautista and estranged wife Trisha does not follow the traditional pattern, for Andy’s mother-in-law, the glamorous Baby Cruz Vasquez, is his biggest defender. This case is expected to result in an impeachment trial if only to divert public attention away from some of the administration’s deficiencies

The Andres Bautistas and Andy Bau's mom-in-law, the beautous Baby Cruz  Vasquez in happier times

Indeed, nothing like a public tussle between husband and wife to rock the media--- especially if the former is a prominent official and the wife is the aggressive and assertive kind who wants half of the wealth. Last Monday, the Inquirer broke out the story of the on-going dispute between Comelec Chair Andres Bautista and his estranged wife, Patricia Cruz-Bautista, and it has been pecking plate for tri-media---with the audience or the readers following every twist and turn of this melodrama being played out especially on the TV networks.

I feel sad and truly sorry for any marriage break-up, as I subscribe to the belief that a marriage under God is indissoluble except by death. This time I feel sorrier because I know Andy Bautista and his mother-in-law, the ever-glamorous Baby Cruz-Vasquez.  I felt very sad to hear from Andy over TV recently how his sons have stopped going to school because of the shame that front pages of newspapers and prime-time TV of their parents’ very public quarrel have brought them. In any marriage break-up especially of the frightfully acrimonious kind (from Trisha Bautista’s end) the real victims of the word war are the children---more so in this case, as it is so high-profile.  Truly tragic

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There are interesting facets to the controversy, such as the query on everyone’s mind after Andy Bautista called for his first press conference  to answer his wife’s allegations about ill-gotten wealth in---of all places---the condo unit of his mother-in-law, Baby Vasquez, and her husband Danny Vasquez.  Both Vasquezes were very visible by his side. The query: bakit kakampi ni Andy Bau (as his friends call him) ang mother-in-law niya, when  by tradition and old wives’ tales, mother-in-law and son or daughter-in-law have little love lost for each other. Here Andy Bau has the full support of his mom-in-law, which doesn’t seem to go by the traditional Pinoy drama script.

In fact, Baby Cruz Vasquez released a statement just now that reads:

“I am greatly saddened by recent events involving my daughter Trisha and her husband Andy. AS a mother, you always wish happiness for your daughter and her family. Sadly, fairy tales sometimes do not always come true.

“It also pains me to see my grandchildren go through this trial that was not of their doing nor their fault.

“I have known Andy for years and I know him to be an honest, upright, God-fearing husband and father. He is a man of unquestioned integrity, the kind of man any mother would entrust her daughter to. THIS IS WHY I CANNOT BELIEVE THE ACCUSATION AGAINST HIM, EVEN IF THEY ARE FROM MY OWN DAUGHTER (emphasis BOC’s).

“I continue to pray for Andy and his family, that they stand fast and find the strength to face this storm. I also pray for my daughter, that she realizes what are truly important in life.”

In turn, Baby, we your friends are praying for strength for you and your family amid this cross that you are carrying.

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Judging from public reaction of friends and people I know, the sympathy seems to be tilting toward Andy Bau especially after he appeared on TV a second time with his eyes swollen and he spoke about his sons.  The good feeling toward him comes from the fellow’s easy friendly manners even with media, but I also gather the same sentiment from people who know him well.

For instance, Dr. Jason Roland Valdez, son of SSS Chair Amado Valdez, narrates that when his grandmother died, Andy Bau was the first one to arrive at the funeral parlor---ahead of the Valdezes and even of the corpse in the viewing room---to condole with the bereaved family. J.R. Valdez asserts that he would never forget this episode about their family friend.

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Actually the friendship among three former deans of law schools is indicative of Andy Bau’s easy manners and nice-guy image. Andy was dean of the FEU College of Law, while Amado Valdez was dean of the UE College of Law, and Nilo Divina the current dean of the UST College of Law. The three men were once very active in the Philippine Association of Law Schools (PALS).

This friendship between Bautista and Nilo Divina has come into play in the current controversy, as Trisha Bautista's allegation is that Andy Bau was receiving what amounts to “lagay” for referring PCGG cases to Nilo’s office, and the sums are alleged by Trisha as part of monies stacked up in Bautista’s numerous bank accounts here and abroad---which wealth, as the stories go, she wants to be divided evenly between them.

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With the allegations against Andy Bau hurled by Trisha before President Duterte in Malacanang earlier, and later in a press conference that she held, talk of impeachment---the only manner in the Constitution whereby the chair of a constitutional commission such as the Comelec could be removed for cause---has surfaced.  As per the Constitution, the resolution to impeach a public servant comes from the House of Representatives and if the sufficient votes are secured, the case goes to the Senate for open and frequently bloody trial, as in the case of the late Chief Justice Renato Corona.

Because Bautista was an appointee of ex-President Aquino, President 

Duterte’s men in both chambers of Congress may be expected to get into full throttle on the trial. Moreover, as Comelec chair, Bautista doubtless has left one political party or the other aggrieved in the elections.  An impeachment trial  is also a way of diverting attention from the problems bedeviling the administration such as the increasingly sluggish economy, the insurgency war and the bog-down of the peace talks with the Left, the still unresolved trouble in Marawi and environs, and the insufficient budget needs for big-ticket items such as implementing free tuition in State Universities & Colleges, that has recently been passed into law.

Aside from the trials and tribulations of a contemporary marriage in the elite class, what’s happening to Comelec Chair Bautista is enough to frighten any thinking citizen about entering public service.  I join his mom-in-law, Baby Cruz Vasquez, in praying for enlightenment for the estranged couple.