Failure to convict not an option

Failure to convict not an option | Daily Tribune

Two impeachment complaints have been filed against Vice President Sara Duterte, with both the first complainant by a coalition of civic organizations with former Senator Leila de Lima as spokesperson and the second comprised of human rights, labor and student activists detailing compelling issues warranting her removal from office.

There are strong grounds for her removal but will the impeachment process prosper?

That remains to be seen, with several factors appearing to discourage moves to get rid of the Vice President through impeachment.

For instance, how will the President's allies in the House take his categorical stand against impeachment because it's a waste of time? The plan by the powerful block-voting Iglesia ni Cristo to stage rallies in support of the President's no-impeachment call could also very well influence the decision of House members - most of whom will be running in the midterm polls.

There's also the time constraints faced by impeachment proponents due to House adjournments in the last six months of the 19th Congress, including the Christmas break and the campaign period for the May midterm polls which starts in February 2025.

There are only nine session days left from the day the first impeachment complaint was filed on 2 December before the House goes on break for the holidays.

Just about the only thing that can be done during this nine-day period would be to refer the complaint to the House justice committee.

Proceedings can be hastened when the House reconvenes in January 2025 but again, there's the break looming in February when the midterm poll campaign begins. And after the election, Congress will reconvene for only at least six session days in June.

Even if the impeachment complaints get through the House, there will also be a race against time in the Senate to conduct a trial as current lawmakers' terms end on 30 June.

If an impeachment trial convenes in the Senate and isn't finished by its current composition, then the articles of impeachment submitted by the House will fail.

However, the whole impeachment process can actually be fast-tracked, as in the case of Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona who was impeached by the House on the same day that a complaint was filed against him on 12 December 2011. A few congressmen drafted a petition for impeachment which was then signed by 188 lawmakers as complainants.

Committee deliberations were dispensed with and the House transmitted the articles of impeachment to the Senate on 13 December.

On 14 December, the Senate convened an impeachment court and four months later on 29 May 2012, Corona was convicted for failure to disclose his financial assets as required by the Constitution, the first Philippine government official to be ousted from office through impeachment.

Apparently, proponents of the two impeachment complaints against the Vice President are aware of a fast-track process allowed by the Constitution.

Still, even if a majority in the House impeaches and indicts the Vice President, it will not result in her being removed from office.

It is only after she is publicly tried, found guilty and convicted by the Senate would she is booted out of the Office of the Vice President.

Needless to say, the administration must study its moves extremely carefully in this matter because one can just imagine what kind of unhinged foe it will have in the person of Sara Duterte if she were impeached and indicted by the House but is left unscathed after standing trial at the Senate impeachment court.