EDITORIAL - Sara impeached

For the first time in the history of the republic, the Vice President was impeached yesterday by a decisive 215 members of the House of Representatives. Considering the issues and personalities involved and the potential for political and social turmoil, every effort must be made to ensure that the impeachment process will be credible.

Sara Duterte was impeached by a fast-track mode that was first employed in the impeachment of Joseph Estrada as president in November 2000. Congressmen led by President Marcos’ son, Deputy Speaker Sandro Marcos, signed the fourth impeachment complaint that consolidated the charges in the first three complaints filed in December last year. This mode bypasses the regular route of submitting the complaint to the committee on justice and then to the plenary for a vote.

After 215 signatures had been collected by mid-afternoon yesterday – more than double the minimum required number – the complaint was delivered to the Senate before the close of regular office hours. The submission was made just days before the adjournment of Congress this weekend to make way for the campaign for the midterm elections in May.

The entire Senate must constitute itself into an impeachment court to try the Vice President on multiple charges. There are those who say that this quasi-judicial function of the Senate is vested on the institution rather than individual members, and therefore the impeachment trial, even if started soon but suspended for the election campaign, can be carried over to the next Congress, regardless of changes in membership of the impeachment court.

Filipinos are no strangers to impeachment. Estrada faced trial but was ousted through people power. Renato Corona was ousted as chief justice after conviction by an impeachment court. This time, the Vice President has been impeached amid a deepening feud between her family and the clan of the President. Both clans have solid bases of mass support that can take the battle to multiple fronts.

While impeachment by the House is largely a political numbers game, the Senate trial must be based on evidence. The nation will be watching the trial keenly; judgment rendered by senators cannot be seen to be tainted by their political biases. Rather than destabilization, the impeachment process must make the nation and its democratic institutions stronger.