THERE are certain provisions in a Constitution whereby the less they are applied or used, the better for the country.

Transcription

1 THERE are certain provisions in a Constitution whereby the less they are applied or used, the better for the country. The impeachment provision is an example. I said it is better if the impeachment provision remains dormant because of the enmity, division and distraction it brings to a country, especially if there are those who believe that the case against the respondent was started by reasons other than the interest of justice. Worse, if there are sectors who believe that the impeachment is used as a tool of vengeance, political or otherwise. Sadly, such situation appears to be happening nowadays in the native country. The ongoing impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona, now on its fourth week, is still far from over. 1 / 7

2 Some sectors believe that the towering reason behind the initiation of the Corona impeachment is the Supreme Court decision last November against the owners of the 6,000-hectare Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac province. The family of the president of the Philippines is one of the owners. If true, the ongoing impeachment becomes a tool of vindictiveness. As of this writing, Filipinos are equally divided on the potentially explosive issue based on a continuing survey of a Manila newspaper which asks the public (though prematurely), if he or she thinks Corona would be acquitted or convicted. It should be noted that at this writing, the defense has not presented or submitted any of its evidences. The country was placed on the brink of constitutional crisis after the Supreme Court, exercising its duty under the Philippine Constitution as the final arbiter of the law, granted a temporary restraining order in favor of a petition filed by the Philippine Savings Bank from revealing to the impeachment court the supposed dollar accounts of respondent Corona. Such crisis did not materialize because majority of the senators voted to respect the TRO issued by the Supreme Court. On the other hand, if the pending petition of respondent Corona for the Supreme Court to stop his trial is granted, and the Senate ignores the order, then, constitutional crisis may actually ensue. There could be a stalemate in the highest branches of government. 2 / 7

3 Such situation could give rise to massive street demonstrations that could lead to internal strife. Opposing groups, pro-corona and anti-corona, have started to hold street demonstrations last week in Manila. The impeachment process, as power vested by the Constitution in Congress, is to be used sparingly and in extreme cases only as specified under the fundamental law. In its exercise, Congress is not made a superior branch of government. It remains equal to the Executive and the Supreme Court. In the U.S., the House of Representatives has actually initiated impeachment proceedings only 62 times against certain federal and state officials in the past 223 years. Two cases did not reach trial stage because the respondents had left office. Two U.S. Presidents have been impeached: Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in Both were acquitted at trial. Impeachment hearings were begun against President Richard Nixon, but he was not impeached because he resigned before voting took place in the House of Representatives. In the Philippines, three officials had been impeached by its House of Representatives. 3 / 7

4 Former President Joseph Estrada, whose trial was aborted in Last year, former Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, who resigned before the trial started. And Chief Justice Corona, whose impeachment trial is ongoing. According to Wikipedia, one difference between impeachment in the United States and the Philippines is on punishment in the event of conviction at trial. In the U.S., conviction is removal from office. In the Philippines, conviction is removal or censure. The Philippine Senate, sitting as an impeachment court, has not convicted nor punished anyone to this date. Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, a recognized legal authority, has affirmed the position of Wikipedia on the issue of impeachment punishment in the Philippines. This early, we observe there are lessons from the native country s constitutional provision on impeachment, based on the ongoing Corona trial. There are weaknesses that could be strengthened only through amendments. We will not go into details at this time. President Aquino s executive secretary was accused by the defense lawyers, that acting on behalf of his boss, he persuaded some senators to disobey the TRO issued by the Supreme Court by offering P100 million worth of projects in pork barrel to each of the senators. 4 / 7

5 This was denied by the executive secretary. There are other changes needed to ensure that impeachment is not abused and is not used to satisfy the whim and caprice of a majority party at the expense of the rights of the accused and of the minority. To us, the Constitution should clearly provide that the powers of the Senate, while sitting as an impeachment trier, are not absolute. That it remains the same Senate elected by the people even if it is convened as trier of an impeachment case. That questions of law are subject to interpretation by the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, some Filipinos continue to be antsy or irritated by the ongoing impeachment trial. A former senator and Senate majority leader has proposed that the ongoing Senate impeachment trial should be stopped in order to avoid a constitutional crisis in the Philippines. One has only to read the intelligent comments of perceptive readers of a Manila newspaper. We are citing below samples of those comments. Ariel Pacibe: It doesn t matter who the lead prosecutor is, they just don t have a case against the CJ, the real motive is that Pnoy wanted the SC s Hacienda Luisita decision overturned, and so he sent these lapdogs to prosecute the CJ armed with toothpicks instead of swords. Dapat lang talaga, 5 / 7

6 huwag kaalyado ni Pnoy ang maging chief justice, kungdi kawawa ang mga magsasaka at taong bayan. Nakahain sa SC ang motion ng aquino-cojuangco na bayaran sila ng 10 billion pesos ( na manggagaling sa kaban ng gobierno ) for the hacienda luisita to be distributed to farmers as per SC resolution of Nov And worst yet, baka mabalik pa ang hacienda luisita kina aquino-cojuanco. Rogelio Lapating Jr.: Mas maganda kng mag give up na lahat ng mga prosecutors para wala nang gastos ang kaban ng gobyerno. Taposin na nila bukas ang impeachment case. Hindi impeachable crimes ang mga charges against corona. Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for d filipino people Teresa Sabeniano Malto: Ano pa ang uubusin na pera, e naubos na nila GMA ang bilyon bilyon pera ng taumbayan! Ano ba ang 10 milyon na gasgastusin ng impeachment trial kung matatanggal naman ang mga garapal na walang konsensiyang mga opisyal na alagad nila GMA at ng demonyo 6 / 7

7 ! Jose Armin D. Colipano: Prosecutors against each other? Not only Tupas is grandstanding, all of them want the TV s camera on them. mcaball241@aol.com 7 / 7