Category: impeachment

“Forthwith” … a people’s impeachment court?

I’ve made no bones about it, I didn’t mind waiting until after the May elections for the impeachment trial to proceed as long as siguradong the 19th HoR’s Articles of Impeachment continues to hold in the 20th Congress. Because the timing is terrible, what with the very heated campaign season with two powerful dynasties facing off, no holds barred, AND a very divided Senate.

What are the chances that it could be all over even before elections, whether acquit or convict, and what would either outcome mean for the elections? On the other hand, kung hindi agad matapos at itutuloy sa June, July, how would that affect the reelectionists’ chances in May? Madadagdagan pa ang variables nang katakot-takot, better to wait till after elections, was my attitude.

But given the endless “forthwith” discourse, and given the release of Senate Prez’s proposed impeachment calendar, I’m suddenly counting months, March, April, May, June, July, a wait of five months, masyadong matagal nga naman. Hindi na masasabing “forthwith”, not even “as soon as possible”, more like “when convenient” for the senators? And the incumbent senators’ oathtaking in June makes no sense kung wala rin namang uumpisahan hanggang July 30 [korek me if I’m wrong].

And now, this, from the pfundit who’s always worth checking out in case he’s saying something new and not just repeating himself the way he does across platforms:

Ronald Llamas. Nabalitaan ko lang na may mga grupo ng mga religious na balak mag-launch ng people’s impeachment movement. … Kung babagal-bagal ang senado, kung ayaw ng senado na mag-convene, kami ang magco-convene, a people’s impeachment, at itong mga articles of impeachment, mga complaints, paguusapan pa namin, kami na mismo, at baka magpapirma kami ng several million signatures. Dahil sabi ng senate president walang clamor … gagawa ng clamor ang mga religious … balita ko next week.  https://www.youtube.com/

Several million signatures! Alin-aling religious orgs kaya ito? Kasali kaya ang simbahang Katoliko? If yes, kayang-kaya ngang mag-create ng clamor. That would be quite a show. The Senate Prez and the Senators would then have to get their act together, now na. A higher duty calls.

PAHABOL

Christian Monsod:  [The senators] cannot give the excuse that there’s an election campaign. They will be on televisiion while this trial is ongoing and maybe the people can see for themselves what the values and alighnments and politics are of these senators, which is a good lesson for the voters. …

I’d like to see the names of those who say they refuse to meet because they’re on recess. Because … if they happen to be elected, then we will file cases against them … for violating the constitution, and they might not be able to sit. https://www.youtube.com/

Korek si Bam… Ayos si Chiz…

It doesn’t surprise that Bam Aquino is being hit by both anti-DDS and anti-BBM peeps for saying he’s an Independent rather than Opposition, and that he doesn’t think the VP’s impeachment is an election issue. But I must say he makes a lot of sense.

BAM AQUINO. Galing akong Zamboanga, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac. Hindi siya issue nung mga kababayan natin. Ang issue ng mga kababayan natin yung pagkain, yung kakulangan ng tulong sa edukasyon, yung pagkalimitado ng mga trabaho, yung puwedeng makakuha ng ayuda na hindi binibigay nang patas….  Pag umiikot kami, yan yung binabanggit ng mga tao.

So palagay ko yang impeachment, mahalaga siya sa mga partido, mahalaga siya sa mga pulitiko.  Pero pagdating sa taongbayan, ang hinahanap pa rin nila, yung mga taong magtratrabaho para sa kanila, [on] issues na mahalaga sa kanilang pamilya at mahalaga sa kanilang pang araw-araw na buhay.

Pag umabot na tayo sa senate, we will be a judge, at siguro yung nararapat na gawin ay maging fair. Tingnan yung ebidensiya. Huwag kumiling sa kahit anong partido. At siguro nga maganda na may mga independent sa senado, ‘no? Kasi ang nangyayari, kapag may partido ka na, parang nag-judge ka na e, di ba. Pero yung independent, kaya talaga tingnan yung ebidensiya, kaya tingnan kung anong ipe-present ng prosecution at saka ng defense, at gagawa ng desisyon base lang sa ebidensiya, hindi base lang sa politika, o base lang sa kaibigan.

At aprub rin si James Matthew Miraflor, strategic information consultant at The Task Force for Global Health Inc. who sees it as a “smarting up”.

MIRAFLOR. Bam-Kiko as independent rather than opposition. Quimbos doing the Q thing. These liberal politicians (not necessarily from the Liberal Party) are only doing what it needs to survive in an electoral system that operates under patronage principles. It cannot be helped. They need resources from above to sustain their coalitions and machinery; else they lose to someone doing the exact same thing. Hence, they have to make sure that the incumbent coalition is not hostile to them while still keeping their base.

For me, it is a fresh sight to see these liberal politicians finally smarting up and doing what needs to be done to contest political power. This is unlike in the last decade when they were weighed down by a false sense of righteousness; as if they were no longer mere politicians but “statesmen” of some sort, unsullied by the grease of the machine.

Yes, smart to draw a line without being pa-righteous. Smart to eschew talk of impeachment when one might end up one of 24 judges. There are honestly creative ways for a third force to navigate a highly polarized political arena.

Gets ko naman where Sonny Trillanes is coming from, but no one is belittling the issue of impeachment. In fact, we all (except for some DDS) wish the Senate would hurry up — let the chips fall where they may — and it’s a relief to hear from Senate Prez Chiz Escudero, who’s not sleeping on the job naman pala: pre-trial concerns and requirements are being attended to with due diligence (the better to forestall future complaints), the Senate will convene as impeachment court once the 12 new senators have taken their oaths.

At least that’s what I gathered from his presscon this morning. Smart of him to speak and explain directly to the people via media, rather than engage in endless debates with legal luminaries who say the trial should start now na even if the Senate is on recess. Anyway, na sa Supreme Court na pati.

Although say rin ni Chiz, it will be the Solicitor General’s office that will respond to the Supremes’ request for comment to petitions, whether to compel the Senate to move ASAP or to direct the Senate to cease and desist.

Not that the Senate, if truly independent, can be compelled to do anything against its wishes. Especially not by a Supreme Court whose CJ and 12 Associate Justices are Duterte-appointed.  https://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/incumbent-justices/

 

 

Impeach bulaga, MacArthur Park

Sinadya kaya ng Lower House reps na literally last-minute nila isinampa ang Articles of Impeachment sa Senado, knowing very well that it was too late, the Senate had adjourned, but, well, the media mileage is worth it? Besides there seems to be much glee in putting Senate Prez Chiz on the spot — just about every other lawyer and pundit and rep is weighing in now on the meaning of “shall forthwith proceed” and insisting that the Senate must get moving, now na! Bumigay kaya si Chiz, o manindigan? Ano ba talaga ang rules?

Samantala, cool na cool si VP Sara, matagal na daw nilang pinaghahandaan ito, okey lang siya, “mas masakit pa maiwan ng boyfriend o girlfriend kaysa ma-impeach ka ng House of Representatives.” Hmm. I’m sure not, as in, not true. Unless it’s a measure of how little she thinks of country, and ipinapa-sa-diyos na lang niya ang kapalaran ng ‘Pinas, as in, “God save the Philippines”? Really?

Upon messaging her father daw that “Everything will be all right”, former President Duterte sent her daw a video of him singing “MacArthur’s Park”, a sixties song, boomer times, about the end of a love affair. Na medyo appropriate nga naman if we look back on the BBM-Sara hook-up. When did it start going wrong? Was it doomed from the start?

The Duterte-Marcos alliance was already there when Duterte won the presidency in 2016 (BBM lost as VP to Leni). That he immediately allowed the burial of FEM in the Libingan ng mga Bayani told us all we needed to know, that it was a bayad-utang for the Marcos-loyalist vote. Maybe he needn’t have. Maybe he would have won anyway. And maybe if he hadn’t allowed the burial, and the dictator Marcos’s right to be buried as hero continues to be questioned, maybe we wouldn’t have a Marcos back in the palace? I can imagine Dutz singing this part with gusto, and regret.

Someone left the cake out in the rain 
I don’t think that I can take it
‘Cause it took so long to bake it 
And I’ll never have that recipe again
Oh nooooo

Who’s afraid of Senate impeachment trial?

The INC & DDS were still high on that huge almost-2M-strong political rally — yey! di na mai-impeach si VP Sara, the people have spoken! — when PBBM‘s chief legal counsel proceeded to douse cold water on the very idea.

Juan Ponce Enrile:  As a nation and a state , we will incur a very detrimental precedent if we follow the logic implicit in the INC rally that they mounted. Are we prepared and ready to face the long term consequences of that INC move? https://www.facebook.com/jp.enrile

Quite persuasive, sa totoo lang. As JPE warns, should Congress refuse to act on the impeachment complaints on the say-so of INC, it would set an awful precedent for the next time an impeachable government official screws up and deserves to be impeached — the Iglesia, or some other group, only has to rear its ugly head again and say NO, and that’s that?

Thankfully PBBM has acknowledged the wisdom of Enrile’s warning, as in, yes, indeed, junking the impeachment complaints would set a “problematic” precedent, but in the next breath he says:

“Wala nang congressman, wala nang senador, dahil nangangampanya na sila. Hindi tayo makakapagbuo ng quorum. And so, as a practical matter, the timing is very poor.” https://pco.gov.ph

Susog pa ni Senate Prez Chiz, kailangan pa daw pag-aralan, kung sakaling ma-refer to the senate ang Articles of Impeachment ngayon, kung kailan malapit nang mag-break for elections, back to square one ba after elections? https://www.gmanetwork.com/

Is Chiz playing dumb?  As far as I know, the Senate is a continuous body na kahit kailan ay hindi nababakante — kaya nga staggered ang elections, only 12 of 24 seats become vacant every three years (unlike the House of Reps).  Ibig sabihin, the trial can continue, pick up where the Senate court leaves off before election-break, once the new members have been sworn in. (Naturally the newbies are expected to be capable of catching up, or they have no place in those august halls.)

Atty. Rene Bueno:  Kapag impeachment court na ang Senado, puwede magpatuloy na litisin ang complaint … puwede ring i-set aside until after elections. … Marami nang jurisprudence re the Senate as a continuous body, no one can interrupt this function, and the main purpose is to maintain the stability of the government.  https://www.youtube.com/

Prof. Antonio Contreras: The concept of the Philippine Senate as a continuing body refers to its structure, composition and functioning, which ensures that its operations continue seamlessly despite periodic changes in its membership. This principle has legal and practical implications, making the Senate distinct from the House of Representatives. https://web.archive.org/

Fr. Ranhilio Aquino:  It is instructive that the 1987 Constitution and the 1935 Constitutions of the Philippines have staggered senators’ terms—thus assuring the continuity of the chamber…. https://manilastandard.net/

So. Malinaw na initiating the impeachment trial before elections won’t be a waste of time and effort for the Senate. Of course it would annoy the INC & DDS, and surely lose them some votes in May, but, hey, di ba’t matutuwa tiyak ang mas nakararaming mga Katoliko at Muslim atbp. na pro-impeachment — from BBM peeps to Leni Kakampinks — huwag ismolin o isnabin ang mga boto nila.

Kaya rin wala akong kabilib-bilib sa hirit ng Lower House Reps na useless isampa ang kaso sa Senado dahil sigurado silang i-a-acquit ng Senado ang VP.  Parang wala pala silang kabilib-bilib sa mga ebidensiyang napalutang nila mismo sa mga hearing ng Lower and Upper Houses re confidential funds atbp. So. Kung iyan pa rin ang pakiramdam nila after elections, hindi pa rin nila aaksyunan? Never mind their mandate?

If memory serves, ganyang ganyan din noong impeachment trials nina Erap at Corona. Walang katiyakan. Pero both times, in different ways, natanggal sila. Can it be that the powers-that-be do not really want the VP impeached by the Senate, bahala na lang sa 2028?

Suddenly I’m remembering VP Sara saying back in October 2024 that she has a list of 5 impeachable offenses by PBBM. Could it be why BBM doesn’t want her impeached, so that she won’t, can’t, try to impeach him? Quid pro quo, I’ll scratch your back, you scratch mine, with the INC playing gamemaster? Sana naman hindi.