House risks derailing Sara impeachment, says Azcuna

The House of Representatives’ continued deferral of acceptance of the remanded articles of impeachment risks Vice President Sara Duterte’s trial failing to cross over into the 20th Congress, potentially derailing the rigorous and collective effort by more than 200 members of the lower chamber.

Former Supreme Court associate justice Adolfo Azcuna, one of the framers of the 1987 Constitution, shared this concern, warning that if the House fails to take action on the remanded impeachment complaint and attach its certification of compliance thereto before the 19th Congress officially ends on 30 June, then the next Congress will not be bound to re-transmit the same to the Senate impeachment court.

“The certification of compliance seals the identity of the (articles of impeachment) and protects its integrity against possible changes in the passage of crossover,” Azcuna said on his Facebook late Sunday.

The Senate returned the articles of impeachment to the House pending a certification from the latter that it did not violate Article XI, Section 3, Paragraph 5, which prohibits the filing of more than one impeachment case against the same official within a one-year period.

The certification must also include the House’s manifestation of willingness to pursue the case when the 20th Congress opens on 28 July.

The House prosecutors, however, contended that they do not see the need for it because the impeachment complaint was already verified, making it obvious that it was carried out meticulously and in accordance with the Constitution.

As for the manifestation, the prosecutors stated that it is “impossible” to comply because the 20th Congress does not exist yet, making it premature for them to take the required action demanded by the Senate.

As a result, the House deferred the acceptance of the articles. House prosecutors, however, assured that they would only comply with the orders of the Senate impeachment court once it issued a clarification on the said directive.

Azcuna, however, said the House must accept it now to ensure that the stalled proceedings can surely cross over from the 19th to the 20th Congress and the trial proper can start thereafter.

“With these accomplished, the House of Representatives of the 20th Congress will be constrained to respect the certification of the House of Representatives of the 19th Congress and not reopen the articles of impeachment but accept it in toto, and transmit it anew to the Senate for the trial to start, naming its prosecutors for the purpose,” he explained.

Further, he added that this would seal that the 20th Congress has legal standing to hear the impeachment case.

But House prosecutor Ysabel Zamora insisted on Monday that the trial could still proceed in the 20th Congress regardless of whether or not they comply with the Senate’s illegal order.

"We have to remember that the proceedings can proceed independently of these requirements made by the Senate. There is nothing in our Constitution that says they must return the articles to Congress, they must remand or return the articles to the sender, and there is also no requirement that we must file a certification,” she asserted.

Zamora contended that the continuation of Duterte’s trial to the next Congress does not solely depend on the certification, claiming it’s unfair to put the pressure back on the House, which had already done its part with respect to passing the impeachment.

Duterte was impeached by the House on 5 February on grounds of graft and corruption, bribery, betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the Constitution, and other high crimes.

The seven articles of impeachment were primarily anchored on the supposed misappropriation of P612.5 million in confidential funds allocated to her office and the Department of Education during her tenure as its secretary, as well as her alleged kill plot against President Marcos Jr.’s family. The articles were transmitted by the House to the Senate on the same day.

Vice President Duterte has long denied corruption allegations involving her confidential funds. She likewise asserted that her assassination remarks against former ally-turned-foe Marcos were merely taken out of context.