IMPEACHMENT

Just before our representatives in the House of Congress go on for recess for the end of the year holidays, 188 members out of 284 members of the House of Congress impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona. The articles of impeachment have been formally received by the Senate which indicated that the impeachment trial could possibly be started when the Senate resumes session in January 2012, after the holiday hiatus.

 The Senate will convene the impeachment court and may take up the eight counts of the articles of impeachment. Because impeachment is both a legal & political process, the conviction can happen if concurred by two-thirds of all members of the Senate. There are 23 senators, and so already, the political pundits are counting how the members of the Senate will vote.

Also, another development is that Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago, who other Senators look up to because of her expertise and savvy as former judge, will now head to The Hague, in the Netherlands as she has been appointed as a member of the International Criminal Court. Still, the Senate seems ready as the rules of impeachment have been drafted already.

Impeachment under our fundamental law is part of the process of making our public officers accountable. The impeachment of Chief Justice Corona was initiated by our representatives in the House of Congress.

There are those who fear that this process could undermine our judiciary which is a co-equal branch of both our executive and legislative branches of government. But, another perspective is to regard this process as part of “checks and balance” function of our system.

The other government official earlier impeached was former Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez. She resigned before the trial could begin in the Senate.

In recent memory, another person impeached by the House of Congress and which reached trial at the Senate was former President Joseph Estrada. Former Chief Justice Hilario Davide, presided over the impeachment trial of former President Joseph Estrada, as our Constitution provides that when the President of the Philippines in on trial, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court shall preside.

This time around, it is the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court who will be on trial.

One of the take home lessons from previous impeachment, is that yes, our justice system oftentimes work. That perhaps, we squandered all these lessons for the past decade is also true.

The impeachment of Chief Justice Corona was done under the auspices of the Congressional Justice Committee headed by Neil Tupas who said, “We want to bring back the faith and confidence of the people in the judiciary. It is the person we impeached, not the institution.”

The minority in the House of Congress are crying foul for the speed with which the impeachment was done in the House of Congress. As well, it dawned on us, the proponents of the Reproductive Health bill that politics can really be harnessed for the passage of this health measure for women and for all in the Philippines.

Marvic Leonen, current head of the GRP Peace Panel for talks with the MILF & former law dean of the U.P. College of Law said:
 “Impeachment is a process that allows accountability. When it is used against an incumbent, it should never be mistaken as an affront against the institution where he belongs. Rather, it should be viewed as a way of strengthening that institution. We weaken public institutions whenever we suffer in silence, keep our genuine criticisms private and non-threatening to those in power. Inaction against abuse by incumbents of their power as judges or justices reconstitutes wrongs as rights.”

The other call which was posted several times in Facebook is to say “Yes to the ouster of SC Chief Justice Corona but No to the creation of 'Aquino court’,”

Again, there is an administrative safeguard to this power of appointment by the President of the Philippines or the executive department through the Judicial & Bar Council, an administrative body composed of the three branches of government, the legal profession and the private sector towards the appointment of judges & justices of our courts.

Our judges and justices are called magistrates, from the Latin word magistratus, which derives from magister (master), and from the root word magnus (great).

So, in the spirit of the season, let us hope that our processes will be towards making our institutions greater and not weaker.