Lacson said the resistance of some senators, particularly those allied with Duterte, could center on the legal and constitutional basis for the articles of impeachment —either before or upon the court’s convening.
The Senate and the House of Representatives appear headed on a collision course over the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte, with both chambers increasingly gravitating toward opposing positions.
The effort to impeach the Vice President could ultimately prove futile after Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson raised the possibility the Senate may not convene as an impeachment court — depending on the vote of the chamber’s 24 senators seating as judges.
Lacson said the resistance of some senators, particularly those allied with Duterte, could center on the legal and constitutional basis for the articles of impeachment — either before or upon the court’s convening.
Deputy Speaker Ronaldo Puno said it appears the House will be able to secure more than the one-third vote threshold required to impeach Duterte, as the major political parties are expected to provide support once the Articles of Impeachment reach the plenary on 11 May.
The House Committee on Justice found probable cause in two separate impeachment complaints and approved the committee report and the Articles of Impeachment for plenary consideration.
House members were given time to review the articles and the supporting evidence ahead of the plenary vote.
Puno said the required number of votes had long been in place.
“Even during the early stages of the process, when the committee voted on the sufficiency in form and substance of the complaints, there was already enough support for the impeachment case to move forward,” he said.
“Here we are now, and reaching 106 is easy. I think it was already at 106 even before. During the form-and-substance stage alone, getting 106 votes was already very achievable. But now that more information has come out, perhaps things are becoming even clearer in our minds and among our fellow citizens,” Puno said.
Puno, who chairs the National Unity Party (NUP), shared an internal count within their party, revealing that 34 of the 55 members support impeachment.
“We held a meeting the other day and conducted a secret ballot — 34 voted yes,” Puno said.
Majority rules
Lacson, in a recent “Kapihan sa Senado” forum, said in response to whether the Senate may not convene as an impeachment court, “Yes, that’s a possibility.”
“This is a 24-member court, and whatever the majority says, that will be the ruling of the court,” he explained.
“And if that happens, it’s on them (the majority); they will have to answer to the people why they don’t want to convene. The minority that loses in the vote, there’s nothing they can do,” Lacson said.
Akbayan Partylist Representative Chel Diokno, a key figure in the impeachment effort against Duterte and a potential prosecutor, said the Senate has a clear constitutional duty to convene as an impeachment court once the articles are transmitted to it.
He emphasized that the Constitution requires the Senate to “forthwith” convene and proceed with the trial, regardless of political alliances or the majority sentiment.
“The Constitution is very clear” about the Senate’s duty to take up the impeachment, Diokno said.
He and other lawyers, such as University of the Philippines Prof. Paolo Tamase, highlighted that while the Senate acts as a collegial body, it cannot, by a simple majority vote, disregard its constitutional obligation to convene.
Impeach articles sent out
Copies of the justice committee report and the Articles of Impeachment against Duterte were provided to House members ahead of the expected 11 May plenary vote for transmittal to the Senate.
During the plenary session last Wednesday, House Deputy Majority Leader Ernesto Dionisio Jr. announced that the House Secretary General had furnished electronic and printed copies of Committee Report 261 and House Resolution 989 to all members.
Dionisio said a downloadable version of the documents was uploaded to the House’s official website.
Under the resolution, the Articles of Impeachment list the alleged crimes committed by Duterte, supported by the evidence presented during the Committee on Justice’s clarificatory hearings of previous weeks.
What had initially begun as four separate complaints on 2 March was narrowed to two after the committee agreed that both were sufficient in form and substance.
Following its finding of probable cause in the accusations, the complaints were subsequently consolidated through a motion of Mamamayang Liberal Partylist Representative Leila de Lima, the sponsor of the complaint submitted by members of the clergy.
Among the allegations cited in the complaints were Duterte’s misuse of the confidential funds of the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education Secretary, her alleged accumulation of unexplained wealth, and verbal threats directed towards high-ranking officials.
These were condensed into four Articles of Impeachment as indicated in HR 989 and signed by a total of 57 solons.
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