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Minority bloc Senators Koko Pimentel and Risa Hontiveros argue that the impeachment trial against Vice President Sara Duterte could carry over to the 20th Congress
MANILA, Philippines – With the Senate session resuming on Monday, June 2, debate intensified over whether the impeachment trial could extend to the next Congress, as the current 19th Congress has only six session days left to discuss and prepare for the proceedings.
Senate Majority Leader Francis Tolentino opened the discussion, asserting that the upper chamber should no longer proceed with the trial due to constitutional limits. He noted that the Articles of Impeachment were transmitted to the Senate on February 5, but proceedings are scheduled to begin only on June 11.
Tolentino cited Article XI, Section 3(4) of the Constitution, which states that “the Senate shall proceed to trial, forthwith” after receiving the Articles of Impeachment. However, it was the same Senate that chose to defer tackling the impeachment before going on a three-month break for the midterm elections.
“It is a legal imperative that connotes immediacy; trial after months of inaction undermines not only this directive but also the due process rights of the respondent and the integrity of the Senate as an Impeachment Court,” said Tolentino, who failed in his reelection bid after placing 25th in the recent senatorial race.
Tolentino also cited foreign legislative principles, including Jefferson’s Manual, which supposedly states that “unfinished business at the end of one Congress does not carry over to the next Congress.”
“Kahit anong pilit, hindi maitatawid — lalo na’t kung lalabag sa Saligang Batas,” Tolentino said. (No matter how hard you try, it can’t carry over — especially if it violates the Constitution.)
Minority bloc disagrees
Opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros contradicted Tolentino, saying that “allowing impeachment to cross over Congresses is consistent with American practice.”
“Following the practice of the United Kingdom, Thomas Jefferson’s Manual of Parliamentary Practice states that, and I quote, impeachment is not discontinued by the dissolution of Parliament, but may be resumed by the new Parliament,” Hontiveros said, citing the UP Law Journal on Emerging Issues in Philippine Impeachment and the Accountability Constitution written by lawyer Paolo Tamase. (You can read the journal here.)
Tamase says that “Congressional impeachment proceedings are not discontinued by a recess.” He cited several US cases in which proceedings extended to the next Congress, including the impeachment of former president Bill Clinton, which was transmitted to the Senate after it had adjourned sine die for the 105th Congress.
Senate Minority Leader Koko Pimentel also shared the same view, saying that there is no provision in the Constitution that prohibits the impeachment trial to cross over to the next Congress.
“On the contrary, the Senate Rules on Impeachment support the position that the impeachment trial shall continue until final judgment, even if it is necessary to continue into the next Congress,” Pimentel argued.
On Monday morning, Senate President Chiz Escudero said that even if the Senate under the 19th Congress convenes as an impeachment court, the upper chamber must reconvene as a court in the 20th Congress, since all actions and decisions made in the previous Congress are “non-binding” on the next one.
Escudero had postponed the presentation of the Articles of Impeachment — the first step of the proceedings — from June 2 to June 11, which is the last session day of the 19th Congress. The convening of the Senate as an impeachment court on June 11 also remains uncertain, as senators may file a motion to oppose it.
The 20th Congress will open on July 28.
It can decide whether or not to convene as an impeachment court and proceed with the trial by simply adopting the rules of the previous Congress — if they choose to do so. This decision, again, will be made by a simple majority vote.
Hontiveros, a staunch critic of the Vice President, warned that if the Senate continues to delay the trial, they would be violating the Constitution. Meanwhile, the Vice President herself said that she was looking forward to the trial because she wanted a “bloodbath.”
– Rappler.com
