Impeachments, the Philippine experience

While our country has made the valid claim of giving birth to the greatest Malayan who ever lived, Dr. Jose Rizal, and having made the first ever declaration of national independence in the whole Asia on June 12, 1898, we also besmirched our own history by having the first Asian head of State, Joseph Estrada, to be impeached in 2000.

Our Philippine Constitution of 1935 written by our illustrious leaders in the caliber of Claro M. Recto, and the seven wise men that included two great Cebuanos, Filemon Sotto, chair of the Drafting Committee and Manuel C. Briones, aside from Manuel Roxas, Norberto Romualdez, Vicente S. Encarnacion, Miguel Cuaderno, and Conrado Benitez, adopted in Article IX, Section 1 thereof, impeachment as a mode of removing the president, vice president, members of the Supreme Court and the auditor general based on culpable violation of the Constitution, treason, bribery, and other high crimes.

The 1973 Constitution which was highly influenced by the martial law regime, under the dominant and domineering constitutional monarch Ferdinand Marcos Sr., also included in Article XIII, Section 3, the impeachment of the president, vice president, members of the Supreme Court, and members of the three constitutional commissions, the COA, the Comelec, and the CSC. The grounds included "graft and corruption" to the four grounds in the 1935 Constitution.

The most prominent delegates from Cebu in the 1972 Constitutional Convention were Hilario G. Davide, Jr from Argao, Napoleon Rama, and Marcelo Fernan. They included Lydia D. Rodriguez and Casimiro Madarang of the 1st District, Marcelo Fernan, Pedro Yap, Jesus Garcia Sr., and Natalio Bacalso of the 2nd District, Napoleon Rama and Antonio Bacaltos of the 3rd District, Hilario Davide Jr. and Oliveros Kintanar of the fourth, Fr. Jorge Kintanar and Pedro Calderon of the fifth, Fr. Andres Flores and Francis Zosa of the sixth, and Antonio de Pio and Gerardo Pepito of the seventh.

In the 1935 Constitution, it was required that three-fourths of the senators should vote for conviction, that meant 18 out of 24. No impeachment was recorded from 1935 to 1972. The nation was too busy rebuilding the country from the devastation of World War II. In the 1973 Constitution, the requirement that one-fifth of the unicameral National Assembly or Batasan Pambansa was sufficient to send a case to trial. No impeachment could be done at that time of martial rule.

The 1987 Constitution framed by appointed officials included such great Cebuanos as Hilario Davide Jr., Napoleon Rama, Regalado Maambong. The commission was led by its president, Cecilia Munoz-Palma, Vice President, Ambrocio Padilla, Floor Leader Napoleon G. Rama, and included such prominent leaders as Blas F. Ople, Jose Nolledo, Francisco Rodrigo, Domao Alonto, Lorenzo Sumulong, Fr. Joaquin Bernas, Sister Christine Tan, farmer Jaime Tadeo, and movie director Lino Brocka.

Under the current Constitution, the first Asian head of state to be impeached was Joseph Estrada in 2000. The first Ombudsman to be impeached was Merceditas Guttierez. The first vice president to be impeached is Sara Duterte, although that one was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. All of our past impeachments took place under the 1987 Constitution. The impeachment of the vice president by the House is going to be heard by the Senate as an impeachment court.

While the prosecution has overwhelming support in the House, it’s unlikely that 16 senators are going to convict the vice president. But then again, the proceedings and the evidence that shall be unearthed and exposed to the electorate may prove sufficient to derail her aspiration to become the next president.

If that happens, the original meaning of impeachment, which is to obstruct, to impede and to stop, would still find its appropriate meaning. I keep my fingers crossed on that.