The Process of Impeachement in Philippine Politics



Who May be Impeached from Office?

Under Article 11, Section 2 of the Philippine Constitution, the following officials may only be removed from office by impeachment:

* President
* Vice-President
* Justices of the Supreme Court
* Members of the Constitutional Commissions
* Ombudsman

The Constitutional Commissions consist of the Commission on Audit, Commission on Elections and the Civil Service Commission. The Ombudsman investigates illegal acts or activities committed by public officials, employees or agencies.


Grounds for Impeachment

The grounds for impeachment are culpable violation of the Constitution, treason, bribery, graft and corruption, other high crimes or betrayal of public trust.

According to constitutional law expert, retired Supreme Court Justice Isagani A. Cruz in his book Philippine Political Law, culpable violation of the Constitution means "wrongful, intentional or willful disregard or flouting of the fundamental law." He adds that mere mistakes in understanding or interpreting the Constitution cannot be covered by this ground. Citing a report of the special committee of the House of Representatives that investigated the impeachment charges against former President Elpidio Quirino, Cruz says that "other high crimes" have been interpreted as those offenses which, like treason and bribery, are so serious in nature as to affect the orderly workings of the government.

Finally, Cruz says that "betrayal of public trust" is a catch-all ground which would make any act unbecoming of a public official, such as abuse of authority or neglect of duty, an impeachable offense even though such acts aren't crimes.


Who May File an Impeachment Complaint?

Article 11, Section 3(2) of the Philippine Constitution provides that any member of the House of Representatives or any citizen, provided it is endorsed in a resolution by any member of the House of Representatives, may file an impeachment complaint. The complaint is filed with the House of Representatives, which is one of the houses of Congress. The other one being the Senate.


Initiation and Trial of Impeachment Complaints

The House of Representatives has the sole power to initiate all cases of impeachment, while the Senate has the sole power to try all impeachment cases. The House must vote by one-third of its members before the impeachment complaint (called Articles of Impeachment) is transmitted to the Senate for trial. Once the House musters the one-third votes, the official concerned is then considered impeached for all intents and purposes. This, however, is still not enough to remove him or her from office as the Senate must still try the case and convict the official by a two-thirds vote of its members.


Effect of Conviction

If the impeachment trial results in conviction, the impeached official will be removed from office and be disqualified to hold any office under the Republic of the Philippines, pursuant to Article 11, Section 3 (7) of the Philippine Constitution. The convicted official may still be liable for criminal prosecution if the acts that led to his or her impeachment constituted criminal offenses.


One-Year Bar on Impeachment

Under Article 11, Section 3 (5) of the Philippine Constitution, no impeachment proceedings may be initiated against the same official more than once within a period of one year. In Francisco, Jr. v. House of Representatives, G.R. No. 160261 (Nov. 10, 2003), the word "initiated" under this provision has been interpreted as the filing of an impeachment complaint, either by any member of the House or any private citizen that is endorsed by any House member.

Thus, when on June 2, 2003 then President Joseph "Erap" Estrada filed an impeachment complaint against former Supreme Court Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr., which was later dismissed, the second impeachment complaint filed against the Chief Justice on Oct. 23, 2003 was disallowed for violating the one-year bar on impeachment.


Reference

Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines.
Cruz, Isagani A. Philippine Political Law. Central Law Book Publishing. Quezon City: 1992.

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