Does the Senate really have no limits in impeachment? Not so fast
MANILA, Philippines — How far can the Senate go in handling an impeachment trial?
While Senate President Francis Escudero claimed that an impeachment court had "no limits," legal experts disagreed, saying that the Senate remains bound by the Constitution and its own rules.
Lawyer Antonio Bucoy, spokesperson for the House prosecution panel, countered Escudero's statement.
“Mayroon pong limitasyon. Ang limitasyon ay ang ating Saligang Batas at ang kanilang sariling impeachment rules. Hindi puwede, porket ikaw ay sui generis, puwede mo nang gawin lahat ng gusto mo."
(There are limitations. These are the Constitution and their own impeachment rules. Just because the body is sui generis doesn't mean it can do whatever it wants.)
In legal terms, sui generis means the body is unique or of its own kind. But that doesn't place it above constitutional principles, according to Bucoy.
If the Senate’s impeachment rules don’t align with the law, it would not work. The Constitution still reigns supreme, he said.
University of the Philippines constitutional law professor Dante Gatmaytan acknowledged Escudero was correct in pointing out that the Constitution grants the Senate the power to try impeachment cases.
However, like Bucoy, he said that this power is not absolute.
“The Senate cannot violate the due process rights of the respondent. It cannot convict without evidence. The basic concepts of due process and fairness are deemed incorporated in the Senate's rules,” Gatmaytan told Philstar.com.
“I would also argue that the Senate cannot refuse to hold a trial or return the Articles of Impeachment to the House. This is because the Senate is part of a mechanism to ensure accountability among high government officials. It cannot decline to perform this function,” he added.
Outgoing Senate Minority Leader Koko Pimentel, who voted against the Senate's move to return the impeachment case to the House, said the Senate is not free to do whatever it wanted in an impeachment.
“Hindi lang naman puwedeng gawin kahit ano,” Pimentel said. (We can’t just do whatever we want.)
Escudero’s controversial statement came in response to former Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, who earlier pointed out that the Senate's motion to return the impeachment articles favored Vice President Sara Duterte.
“There are no limits to what the impeachment court can and cannot decide,” Escudero said.
The Senate’s decision to return the impeachment articles has drawn widespread criticism from legal experts and civil society groups, who view it as a delay tactic that benefits Duterte, who is facing allegations of corruption involving P125 million in confidential funds.
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