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Thursday, October 30, 2003
Famador: What happens next?
By Joel Famador
So that we, ordinary mortals, would know what the constitutional gobbledygook mean, let’s listen to Dean Jorge Bocobo. His explanation is very simple and exceedingly enlightening.
He says that initiating a case of impeachment under the Constitution refers to the whole process, which includes:
—the filing of a verified complaint for impeachment with the lowly House of Representatives;
—the referral of the complaint to the proper House committee;
—the favorable majority vote of the members of that committee;
—the resolution of that committee endorsing the impeachment complaint for consideration by the entire House;
—the vote of at least one-third of all the members of the House endorsing the said resolution; and
—the submission of the impeachment complaint or Articles of Impeachment to the other lowly body, the Senate.
Simple, right Joe Banana? Of course, the filing of the impeachment complaint is just part of the whole process of initiating a case of impeachment.
So when you read the other provision of the Constitution, which says, “No impeachment proceedings shall be initiated against the same official more than once within a period of one year…” you will be able to understand that the filing of the first complaint for impeachment against Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. and seven others did not constitute one whole impeachment proceedings, as defined by law.
Thus, Mr. Bocobo implies that the Chief Justice could well be impeached and tried in the Senate now. And he adds that, “Since the Philippine Senate has never before received the Articles of Impeachment against respondent Hilario Davide, it does not appear that the House of Representatives has ever exercised its exclusive power to initiate a case of impeachment against him.” Touche’.
The beauty (if you were civil society) is that Bocobo is not the Supreme Court, which is the constitutional body that will make the final interpretation of the law in question.
Yesterday, with “decent” haste, the Supreme Court issued an order to the House and Senate to maintain the status quo, meaning: “Don`t start the impeachment proceedings yet.”
If you were a congressman or senator, would you submit to the order of a co-equal body like the Supreme Court? Of course not, you are supposed to be equals, right Joe?
But the House seemed to be subservient yesterday. It did not endorse the Articles of Impeachment against Davide for lack of quorum. Of course. President Arroyo and Speaker Jose de Venecia just realized that they opened a Pandora’s box. The whole b—republic recoiled with revulsion. (That’s why our President became so duplicitous as she attended the rally at the Supreme Court with the Chief Justice when just a while ago she said that she was following a neutral stance.)
So what will happen next? (Of course, the peso will plunge against all currencies, dummy.) And duplicity will be the name of the game.
(October 30, 2003 issue)
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