The prospect of dual impeachment and the possibility that the two highest officials could be convicted create unprecedented complications, depending on how events unfold.

Retired Associate Justice Adolfo Azcuna said there is no constitutional impediment to impeaching both the President and the Vice President, but it will be up to Congress to decide, presuming that both go to trial.

The legal sage raised the possibility of a joint trial for both officials.

“In the assumption that the two complaints are referred to a committee, it is up to the panel to decide whether or not to join the two complaints into one or to treat them separately,” he indicated.

A tricky situation happens if the president is convicted first, which, according to Azcuna, may render the case against the vice president moot because the official no longer occupies the impeached position.

“On the other hand, if the vice president is the one earlier convicted, the office becomes vacant, and if the president is subsequently convicted also, the situation will be that both the top offices are vacant,” according to Azcuna.

The magistrate, however, said if subsequent events lead to the conviction of the vice president that carries the penalty of disqualification from holding a government position, “the accession to the presidency becomes invalid because disqualification refers to any and all offices under the republic.”

He, however, said such a turn of events will introduce a gray area in the succession process.

“If the president is convicted and removed first, then the vice president succeeds, and what happens to the impeachment case against the second-highest official is something of an open question. It may or may not continue,” he added.

He said the removal of the vice president first will make the situation more predictable since “it’s just a simple case of a vacancy in the office of the vice president. There is a provision on how that is filled.”

“The president can nominate, and the new vice president will be confirmed by the Senate.”

The nation then enters an unexplored part of the political universe.

“If the person who succeeds as vice president, let’s say one of the senators, uh, assumes the vice presidency and then the president is impeached and removed, then that person who succeeded as vice president becomes president,” Azcuna raised the prospect.

Surely, Senate President Tito Sotto and his peers would have something to say about such a shift in the realm of possibilities.

The scenarios Azcuna presented indicated a further escalation of the friction that placed the whole nation in a state of political flux.

The conflict had halted the economy, which had previously enjoyed robust momentum, placing the country among the world’s top growth centers.

Now, the expansion thrust has reversed, leading to progressive weakening.

Yet the public seeks accountability, which can only be achieved if the already convoluted system takes a step toward a twin impeachment that would be a bitter pill to swallow.