A moment of unintended humor broke through the tension of the Sara Duterte impeachment hearing Wednesday when Sagip party-list Rep. Paolo Henry Marcoleta invoked a line from a Filipino romantic film — and attributed it to the wrong character.
Marcoleta had taken the floor not to oppose the opening of a sealed BIR box containing the Vice President’s tax records, but to challenge the committee to go ahead — with conditions.
“So I dare the committee to open the box, but with a caveat: siguraduhin niyo po na hindi kayo nakalalabag sa batas. At sinabi rin po ni Popoy sa pelikula, ‘I deserve an explanation, I deserve an acceptable reason.’ Siguraduhin niyo po na kung bubuksan niyo ‘yan, meron po kayong acceptable reason na aayon sa batas,” he said.
He had framed his dare around legal propriety, citing the committee chair’s authority over the proceedings before landing on his cinematic reference. “Marahil ay inaasahan niyo na ako po ay magbibigay ng manipestasyon para tutulan ang pagbubukas ng box na ‘yan mula sa BIR. Ang katunayan po ako po ay di tututol. You may go ahead and open it all you want, sabi nga ni Madam Chair, hawak niya ang beat, sino ba naman ako para pigilan ito,” Marcoleta said.
The problem: the line he attributed to “Popoy” — the character played by John Lloyd Cruz in One More Chance and A Second Chance alongside Bea Alonzo — actually belongs to a different character entirely. The “I deserve an explanation” line comes from Piolo Pascual’s role in the 2014 film Starting Over Again, opposite Toni Gonzaga.
Akbayan party-list Rep. Percival Cendaña wasted no time flagging the error before the committee.
“Alam ko pong hinihintay ng taumbayan ang desisyon sa pagbubukas ng kahon, pero may nabanggit po kasi kanina na Popoy at Basha na line po si Rep. Marcoleta. In-attribute po niya ‘yong explanation, deserve an explanation kay Popoy. Hindi po siya kay Popoy,” Cendaña said.
“Ito po ay kay Papa P, kay Piolo Pascual, sa pelikulang Starting Over Again. And I hope as we decide on this matter, this will not lead us to starting over again,” he added.
The committee ultimately voted 6-38-0 to keep the BIR box sealed, leaving the tax records of the Vice President and her husband, lawyer Manases Carpio, confidential within the formal record of the impeachment proceedings.
