In defense of SP Chiz #Jun11

I’ve been trying to figure out why SP Chiz decided it was a good idea to put off for June 11 the convening of the Senate as impeachment court. Alam naman niya, at alam din natin, na siguradong pipigilan ito ng Duterte bloc, given the signals from the VP’s senator allies.

Could it be that he decided to put it all off for the last day of session para wala nang panahon for long plenary debates, time only to call for a vote (if at all) to “de facto” dismiss or not? meanwhile, quietly racking up enough votes against dismissal, while in the public sphere legal experts and constitutionalists happily explain and expound and lecture across media platforms on the Senate’s constitutional mandate to proceed with the impeachment trial, no ifs or buts?

Ang importante lang naman ay ang masimulan ng 19th Senate ang impeachment trial para maituloy ito ng 20th Senate. Ito na rin mismo ang say ni former Supreme Court Associate Justice Adolf Azcuna sa kanyang Facebook post of June 7.

As long as Senate President Escudero gets to start the process before the 19th Congress lapses … when the term of office of Representatives and outgoing Senators end, he will have done well. All he needs is to get the Articles read to the Senate and served on the Respondent. That will trigger the Senate’s jurisdiction over the case. The Senate in the 20th Congress can continue the process of proceeding with the trial.

… The Articles of Impeachment received by the Senate in the 19th Congress will not lapse with that Congress but will be carried over to the 20th Congress because Trial of Impeachment Cases is not a function of Legislative Power but it is a Constituent Power. It is lodged on the Senate specifically not under Art VI on Legislative Power but under Article XI on Accountability of Public Officers. So it does not fall under the rule that unfinished business lapses with the outgoing Congress because the Constitution says the opposite— that the trial must “proceed” meaning it must continue until it is finished. It cannot proceed if it is made to lapse. Since it must proceed, it follows that it does not lapse.

Sana talabán na rin, at mataúhan, ang mga tulad ni senator-elect Tito Sotto, the non-lawyer who’s gotten very critical of Chiz, and who can’t seem to get past Art VI — kailangan daw ay tinapos o natapos ng 19th Senate ang impeachment trial bago mag-adjourn sine die, kebs niya sa Art XI.

Hindi rin totoo ang say ni Sotto na SP Chiz “bushwhacked” anything. Sabi nga ni Pocholo Concepcion: 

Tito Escalera: Chiz ‘bushwhacked’ VP impeachment complaint
Bushwhack as a transitive verb means to attack by surprise. Parang mali ang gamit e.
Sana ‘ignored’ na lang, para maintindihan naming mga alumni ng Wanbol University. #IskulBukol https://www.facebook.com/pocholo.concepcion.

Which drew this painfully hilarious comment from Bobbit Mariano:

Wala na pong textbook ang School Bukol on Philippine Constitution, binili lahat ng Senate dahil ngayon pa lang sila mag-babasa. May exam daw kayo, sabi ni Miss Tapia, on Article XI, specifically expounding the meaning of forthwith, at Essay exam on what is the meaning of public trust, sa Lunes June 9-11, ma-ngongopya na lang daw si Richie the Horsie. Naka-pag review na si Red ford White, nang hiram ng libro.

Yeah, reminds of the Escalera brothers. I’m actually surprised that Tito Sen doesn’t seem to know better than to be so cocksure. Already on social media meron nang nagpaalala na he was among those who voted with dancing queen Tessie Oreta and 9 others to not open the second envelope in the Erap trial. Oo nga, ayon din sa Wikipedia. He was for Erap then. Is he for Duterte now? Kaabang-abang.

Impeachment is sui generis — precedents be damned

We thought the long wait for the impeachment trial was almost over, but suddenly we’re waiting some more, until June 11, the last day of the 19th Congress, so that the Senate can get legislative matters out of the way first daw. Hanggang sa dulo, walang proceeding “forthwith” LOL.

After listening to the back-and-forth of legal luminaries and former senate presidents and incumbent senators vs SP Chiz, from one news cycle to the next, viz a viz issues of jurisdiction and continuity, it seems to me that there would be no problem at all if the senators simply, truly, treat this impeachment case as sui generis, in a class of its own, regardless of precedents.

For some reason, the senators are insisting that they have to proceed in exactly the same ways as in previous impeachment cases. To wit, hindi puwedeng mag-convene as an impeachment court unless Congress is in session, as in the time of Erap and Corona. To wit, hindi puwedeng mag-cross over ang impeachment trial from the 19th to the 20th congress because it has never happened before.

Pero di ba, kapag sui generis, ibig sabihin, dedma sa precedents if any? Googling it, I found this:

STARE DECISIS and SUI GENERIS. The law favors consistency, which is why new cases are decided based on comparison to prior similar cases. This is the doctrine of stare decisis. The notion of legal precedent dictates that similar cases should result in similar court decisions.

Sometimes, however, a novel situation without precedent comes before our courts; such a matter would be regarded as sui generis, literally “of its own kind.” The term sui generis is used to describe a stand-alone thing or situation, something without precedent or comparison. The term can also be used to describe something that is peculiar or unique.. https://buteralaw.com/

Every impeachment case should be regarded as sui generis — stand-alone, without precedent or comparison. And, in fairness to the VP, without expectation that the result would be the same as, say, the Erap case or the Corona case.

For sure the Duterte bloc — Go, Bato, Robin, Imee — will try every trick in the book to stop the impeachment trial from proceeding, but for now I’m thinking positive, that more than a majority of Senators will stand strong and vote YES, let’s hear the prosecution’s evidence and the VP’s defense on all seven charges. Let the chips fall where they may.

Trust ratings, painful truths

I totally agree with Ronnie Holmes of Pulse Asia that the high trust ratings of Digong and Sara as of May 6-9, just before the elections, had a lot to do with the timing of Sara’s impeachment (Feb 7) by the Lower House followed by Digong’s arrest and rendition to ICC jurisdiction (March 11). https://www.gmanetwork.com/

I-i-impeach din pala, why did Congress not strike while Sara’s trust ratings were down, soon after the Nov 2024 hitman threats on BBM atbp., no-joke no-joke? Sa kaka-delay — first the Lower House, then the Senate: why was the Senate so loath to proceed forthwith, all of three months before May 12 — nakabawi tuloy ang VP, thanks to a very smart comms team that has had her strutting on social media platforms, hitting at the Marcos admin non-stop for the poverty high prices and corruption  (never mind that she has nothing to offer by way of alternative economic policies) and then, post-arrest, doubling down with the “kidnap” of Tatay Digong, tugging at heartstrings with the sob story of advanced age, ill health, 27 pills a day, at kung anuano pa.

Sa madaling salita, had the impeachment trial proceeded, forthwith, back in maybe Dec 2024, it would could conceivably have ended with a conviction by Feb or Mar 2025.  And if the DOJ had also put off Digong’s arrest till May 13, then hindi nadagdagan nang katakut-takot ang mga hinaing ng mga Duterte, and maybe there would have been no consolidating the DDS base, tsismis pa lang kasi. At the very least, the political dynamics would have been quite different come election day. And BBM would not be in the spot that he is in now.

And then again, I could be completely off the mark, and it’s all just a matter of charisma pala, as many analysts and observers say. I tend to think though that the old man Digong’s high trust ratings only indicate that one of two Filipinos think, feel, he should face trial here, not in The Hague, just because kawawa naman ang matanda.

Besides, say pa ng DDS vlogger lawyers sa You Tube, okay naman ang judicial system natin, Digong would get a fair deal. Yeah, right. Imagine the wheeling and dealing. But that’s another story.

***

Rodrigo Duterte: A Fascist Original by Walden Bello Feb 2017
Charisma and Rodrigo Duterte by Randy David Nov 2021
‘The Punisher’: Rodrigo Duterte’s violent reign… by Rebecca Ratcliffe Jun 2022
Rodrigo Duterte’s Popularity … Covid-19 Pandemic by Kasuya and Miwa Nov 2023
Rodrigo Duterte: The provocative but popular Philippine strongman Mar 2025

Senate president wanna-be

May 14, just two days after elections, Senator-elect Tito Sotto was quick to say YES, he would accept the Senate presidency in the 20th congress if enough of his colleagues support him.  https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/

May 15, Senate Prez Chiz Escudero had this to say to a titillated and makulit media.

“Katatapos lang ng eleksyon at bangayan at ingay, sisimulan nyo na naman agad. Palipasin nyo naman. Tapusin muna natin itong kongresong to. May dalawa pa kaming linggo na marami pa kaming inaasahang mapapasa at maihahabol na mga panukalang batas,” Escudero said. “Doon muna kami nakatutok at hindi yung parating na kongreso,” he added. https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/

Oo nga naman. Medyo nagulat din ako kay senator-elect Sotto, na hindi nagpatumpik-tumpik, oo agad. Puwede namang sabihing, too soon, guys, too soon to talk about that, let the 19th Congress wind up first. Like, you know, a show of delikadeza naman, in deference to SP Chiz who has a tricky 12 days to navigate, especially the impeachment part.

Unless yung impeachment mismo  ang top-of-mind ng senator-elect, na para bagang nagpaparamdam na he would handle it differently, otherwise why would he be so eager to replace Chiz? I couldn’t help wondering what game he’s playing.

Finally, some 10 days later, around May 23, my YouTube algo came up with an Iglesia (ni Cristo) Net25 vlog where Tito explains to Ali Sotto and Pat-P Daza exactly where he’s coming from on the impeachment matter. https://www.youtube.com/

SOTTO: Ako, ibang klaseng problema ang nakikita ko  na hindi nasisilip ng iba. Meron dalawang comflicting rules e. … Ang impeachment rules kasi, sinasabi that once the impeachment is taken up or the impeachment court is constituted as one, then kailangan tapusin … the impeachment trial must [go on] to the end.  Ito namang senate rules … ang sinasabi ng constitution … oras na mag-adjourn sine die ang senado, lahat ng business noon, patay, kaya nga…sine die, Latin for “without day”. Wala na.

So ano ang dapat sundin? Impeachment rules ba?  Ang problema, impeachment rules emanate from the senate rules, and the senate rules emanate from the constitution.  Bakit ko nasasabi yon? E ako ang co-author ng impeachment rules e. Nung kay Justice Corona, ako ang chairman ng committee of rules eh, yun yung sinulat ko na ginagamit namin as impeachment rules. So ngayon … alin ang susundin?

ALI: The question being, kung maitatawid itong impeachment complaint initiated during the 19th congress … into the 20th congress, is that the issue here?

SOTTO:  Kung sasabihin ng senado…ng 19 th congress … pagdating ng June 13, pag-adjourn sine die ng senado, sasabihin nila na yung impeachment court ay iba, it’s not a legislative body …   anong mangyayari?  Ike-carry over sa 20th congress? So the 20th congress can decide … sapagkat doon may bagong labingdalawa .. Although … may dalawa o tatlo na galing sa 19th congress na reelectionist … Pero the thing is their term ends June 30 ng tanghali. So panibagong term itong papasukan nila , so they’re part of the new 12 of the 20th congress.

PAT-P: So Sino po ang magdedecide … Supreme Court?

SOTTO: Puwede rin. Pero ako ang tingin ko yung 20th congress ang maganda mag-decide.

So. Clearly, whether or not he is elected senate prez by a majority (13) of his peers in the 20th, Sotto, once the Senate convenes on July 30, will contest the continuity of the impeachment court on grounds that the 20th Senate is a new Senate, 9 of the senators being new members, or something like that. Which means more delays, if not a complete stop to the trial, as in, better luck next time, next year.

But that would smack too much of trapo politics. Absent ba si Sotto when the Senate as continuous body was being explained extensively by legal luminaries in all media?

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/

The trial can continue, pick up where the Senate court leaves off, 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.

Besides, it’s not as if they weren’t keeping tabs on the Senate and QuadComm hearings last year like we all were, and we want to hear it all, prosecution AND defense. Technicalities be damned.