Impeachment!

If Vice President Sara Duterte is convicted, she would no longer be able to run for President. Under existing jurisprudence, conviction in an impeachment proceeding not only means removal from public office but also carries with it perpetual disqualification from holding the same position.

This is why many people suspect this impeachment move is politically motivated. Since the Speaker is allegedly interested in running in 2028, it makes sense why the House of Representatives is seemingly bent on pushing for this, even though there is no more time to do so.

As we all know, if you are the Speaker, you wield significant influence. The members are literally at your beck and call. If you tell them to impeach anyone, they would do so in a heartbeat.

If the real purpose is to hold her liable for corruption, then those congressmen should have instead elected to pursue criminal charges. You see, an impeachment case only intends to remove and not punish. In fact, according to the Supreme Court, it is merely a political exercise, not criminal, civil, or even administrative.

At the end of the day, it’s a numbers game. And since it is not truly judicial, the impeachment tribunal can proceed to admitting and accepting pieces of evidence that are normally not considered in a formal court proceeding. It can choose to allow hearsay evidence if it wants to.

This is not to say, though, that the Vice President should not be indicted. If indeed she has committed criminal acts, then she should be held accountable in a formal court proceeding that can judiciously allow the State to prosecute while at the same time accord her due process. This is what justice is about.

At any rate, this ongoing drama seems to be one for the books. By filing the articles of impeachment at the last hour when Congress had already adjourned its session, it has created some legal complications that may require court intervention.

Technically, the senators can still convene and constitute themselves as an impeachment court. Both those seeking reelection and those whose second term is about to expire are still solons until June.

But it may not be practical to do so. The campaign period is about to start, and it would be wise to focus their attention instead on doing provincial sorties. But if they really want to convict her, they would have to railroad the hearing, with the caveat of a potential public backlash.

In the case of former Chief Justice Renato Corona, he was impeached in December 2011, and it took the Senate until May — a little more than five months — to render its verdict. So, railroading this pending case might not be a good idea.

Anyway, it is also interesting to note that the Constitution says that as soon as the articles of impeachment are transmitted to the Senate, the latter “shall forthwith” proceed with the hearing. This means without delay. But with little time left, it may not be feasible to accomplish that.

If they decide to do that in the next Congress, it would also raise some legal concerns. Technically, as the 19th Congress ends, every bill filed and every committee hearing conducted would end with it, too. So, unfinished measures would have to be refiled, while aborted or uncompleted investigations would have to be initiated from scratch.

For this reason, by the next Congress, this impeachment case would have to be abandoned. Now, if anyone wants to refile it, they would have to wait until 2026, since impeachment can only be pursued once a year.

Besides, if the hearing is conducted after the elections, it might be difficult to secure a conviction because of the different composition of the next Senate, with the possibility of some Duterte allies being elected.

That would be bad news for Romualdez.

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