IT is disappointing, annoying even, that some of our senators don’t seem to, can’t seem to, or just refuse to comprehend what impeachment is and know exactly what their duty is in an impeachment proceeding.
Take Sen. Ronald Dela Rosa “initiating” a resolution to have the impeachment case against the Vice President dismissed.
Doesn’t Dela Rosa know that in an impeachment case, the senators act as judges? That is why the Senate rules on impeachment mandate that senators “observe political neutrality.”
By authoring the resolution, Dela Rosa is acting not as a judge but as a defense lawyer. Imagine a judge filing a motion to dismiss a case pending in his court. Then, he gets to decide whether to grant the motion or not. Isn’t that the height of absurdity?
Moreover, the articles of impeachment have not been officially entered into the session of the Senate. So, what is there to dismiss when the case has not been officially admitted? In court, that is like the defense filing a motion to dismiss before the prosecution can file its case. Ridiculous, eh?
The Senate, as the legislative body, which is what it is unless it convenes as the Impeachment Court, possesses no power to dismiss the articles of impeachment.
Only the House of Representatives may vote on the Articles of Impeachment — whether or not to send them to the Senate.
The Senate, once it has received them from the House, cannot vote whether to accept or dismiss them. The Constitution commands the Senate to proceed to trial forthwith.
Which makes me wonder why Senate President Chiz Escudero is even entertaining the thought that Dela Rosa’s purported resolution has to be debated and voted upon on the Senate floor.
“Kung may mag-momosyon, aaksyunan ‘yan, pagdedebatehan ‘yan at pagbobotohan. Pero kung walang mag-file ay wala kaming aaksyunan,” Escudero was quoted as saying.
No, Sen. Escudero. The Senate cannot even entertain such a motion. It is out of order, and a motion that is out of order cannot be discussed or debated. It has to be thrown out.
Let’s review the process.
After the articles of impeachment are transmitted to the Senate by the House, it is read into the records in a session, in the same way that a bill is read on first reading. At this point, the Senate is still a legislative body.
After this, a senator moves to convene the Senate as the Impeachment Court. That motion cannot be objected to nor debated upon—because it is mandated by the Constitution and is a matter of formality. The Senate cannot refuse to convene as the Impeachment Court; ergo, that motion cannot be debated.
The senators then take their oath as judges and begin the trial.
Once the trial begins, the senators wear a new robe—that of a judge. Now, as a judge, you cannot move to have the case dismissed. You can only listen to the testimonies, review evidence, ask questions and then pass judgment as to the innocence or guilt of the impeached official.
Now, let’s examine the position of Sen. Francis Tolentino and Escudero that the impeachment cannot extend to the incoming 20th Congress, basing their flimsy argument on the function of the Senate as a legislative body under which all pending matters in the previous Congress are not carried over to the next Congress.
They also cite the question of whether the Senate is a continuing body or not.
Again, they fail to acknowledge and admit the different character of the Senate as the Impeachment Court and what rules apply.
Tolentino goes on to cite that there are no existing rules mandating a trial to carry over.
You are grossly mistaken, sir. Please read Section 135 of the Senate Rules: “If there is no Rule applicable to a specific case, the precedents of the Legislative Department of the Philippines shall be resorted to, and as a supplement to these, the Rules contained in Jefferson’s Manual, Riddick’s Precedents and Practices, and Hinds Precedents.”
While there is no specific section in the General Rules of the Senate and the Rules on Impeachment for a trial to carry over, the Senate adopted in whole Hinds Precedents.
Hinds Precedents is all about impeachment in the United States. And they state clearly that a trial begun in one Senate carries over to the next Senate.
You are even wrong, Sen. Tolentino, in your assertion that only 12 senators remain on duty between elections, not enough to meet the two-thirds requirement to convict an impeached official.
Sir, according to the Constitution, the term of office of senators ends at noon on June 30, six years after their election. The elected senators in a midterm election assume their office at noon on June 30 following their election.
So, in the current Senate composition, 12 senators will end their term at noon on June 30. But the 12 senators elected last May assume their posts at noon on June 30. Under these conditions, is there one second when the Senate has only 12 members?
The Senate always has 24 members. Only, the opening session does not happen until 30 days or so after June 30, which gives rise to confusion. It doesn’t mean that between June 30 and the opening session of Congress on the fourth Monday of July, there are only 12 members. There are 24 members—12 of them officially assumed their posts at noon on June 30 in 2022, and 12 of them will assume their posts at noon on June 30.
Ergo, the Senate is a continuing body.
