Public Accountabilites

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verified complaint for impeachment may be filled by any Member of the House of Representatives or by any citizen upon a resolution or endorsement by any Member thereof, which shall be included in the Order of Business within ten session days, and referred to the proper Committee within three session day thereafter. The Committee, after hearing, and by a majority vote of all it’s Members, shall submit it’s report to the House within sixty sessions days from such referral, together with the corresponding resolution. The resolution Shall be calendared for consideration by the house within ten session days from receipt thereof (Article XI Sec 3, Subsec. 2)

The Second Stage of Impeachment: Trial in the Senate

The second and final stage of impeachment process takes place in the Senate. The Impeachment Tribunal is considered with the Senator sitting as judges exclusively empowered by the Constitution to acquit or convict a public official impeached by the House of Representatives.

The Penalties Imposed

Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than removal from office and disqualification to hold any office under the Republic of the Philippines, but the party convinced shall nevertheless be liable and subject to prosecution, trial, and punishment, according to law (Article XI Sec. 3 Sub Sec. 7)

Summary of Procedures

The following summarizes impeachment procedure:

A verified complaint is by any Member of the House as citizen with Resolution of Support from the House of Representatives

The complaint is referred to a Committee;

When the complaint shall have been processed and majority of the Members of the Committee shall prove it, with corresponding resolution, it shall be forwarded by the Committee to the House;

The said complaint is included in the Order of Business;

The House of Representatives celebrates on the complaint;

By one third (1/3) vote of all Members of the house of Representatives the compliant becomes the Articles of Impeachment

The Articles of Impeachment are transmitted to the Senate for trial and decision with Senators sitting as jurors; and

The impeachment Tribunal try the case, and may convict or acquit an impeach public official.

Impeachment is an arduous process involving difficulties in various aspects:

the processes

time allowed

the numbers game

Technicalities

The Processes

As a quasi- criminal-political judicial body, control and strong influence of the impeached public official can affect decision of Senators- Jurors because the impeachable public officers belong to the top governmental and judicial hierarchy of the country.

Time Allowed

The impeachment complaint shall be included in the order of businesses within ten (10) session days; submission sixty (60) session days after submission to a Committee are allowed for the submission of the Committee report to the House; ten session (10) days are allowed to calendar the Committee’s Report for the consideration of the House; and, there is no specific provision on the time limit for the Senate to consider the Articles of impeachment. The house in Session may include delay or exclude the complaint in the Order of Business, and the hearing and submission of the Committee Report to the House itself is allowed ample time which can be used in a dilatory tactic.

The Numbers Game

Majority vote of all Members of an impeachment committee is required to be able to submit its report and resolution for the consideration of the House; one third (1/3) of all Members of the House is required to submit the Articles of Impeachment to the Senate; two thirds (2/3) vote of all Senators is required for conviction of an impeached officer; and like a numbers game, political partisanship greatly affects the Congressional processes and decision.

Technicalities and Penalties

The penalty for the impeached officials consists only of disqualification from public and removal from office; filling a defective complaint may cause the impeachment complaint immediate dismissal by the House, serving as bar for another complaint against the same public officer, and, no impeachment case may be filed against the same candidate within the same year. An astute impeachable officer may cause the filing of a detective complaint, promptly dismissed by the House of Representatives, the same shall serve as a a bar for yet, another complaint within the year.

Similarities of the USA and the Philippine Provisions on Impeachment.

Patterned after the USA Constitution, provisions on impeachment under the Philippine Constitution are almost the same with its model. In the Philippine setting, impeachment is likewise very rarely used, and whenever applied, it almost always result to immediate stoppage in the House of Representatives. The defective complaints initiated during former President Arroyo’s Regime barred subsequent attempts to impeach her. Resignation is an easy way out; Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez resigned before the impeachment tribunal could have been decided by the Senate.

The Filipinos and their Assertion of Sovereignity

Former President Joseph Estrada was impeached by the House of Representatives, but the refusal of the majority of Senator- jurors to open an envelope (said to contain Estrada’s account in a bank) stalled the proceeding. It agitated the Filipinos who took the case to the streets, forcing the first family to leave the Malacanang.