If the script goes well, embattled former Davao City mayor Sara Duterte will become the country’s first Vice President to be impeached. The combined yellow and red groups initiated the impeachment moves at the 19th Congress. The “yellow” groups and the left-leaning members of the House of Representatives have joined forces to bring VP Sara down from her high tower. Supposedly, they are confident of collecting and mustering the required number of signatures to short-cut the impeachment process.
The first step of the impeachment procedure was done with the filing of the two complaints against VP Sara already received by the House. Then, they will be referred by Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez to the House committee on justice within 10 days from the filing.
The impeachment complaint needs the signature of one-third, or more than 106 of the total 312 lawmakers for it to get past the House committee on justice and go directly to the plenary. However, if the threshold is not reached, then this will be forwarded to the House justice committee where its chairman, Rep. Juliet Ferrer, and panel members will decide whether the suit is sufficient in form and substance before its merits are taken up in deliberations.
Once the House panel endorses this to plenary, congressmen will cast their votes on whether they will elevate the impeach complaint to the Senate. The rules and requirements on how an impeachable official can be removed from office requires two-thirds vote of the 24-man Senate.
In an attempt to fast-track the impeachment case, the Makabayan bloc opts for the method that allows an impeachment complaint – if filed by one-third of House members – to not go through proceedings at the committee on justice. They believe they can gather this many congressmen required to co-sign the impeachment complaint.
In other words, they will attempt to make a repeat of how former president Joseph Estrada’s impeachment was shortcut by the 11th Congress. With then speaker Manny Villar, the impeachment complaint was initiated in November 2000 and immediately voted for approval at plenary session in a rush fashion. The objections raised on the floor by House allies of ex-president Estrada were drowned out after microphones at the session hall were turned off.
Thus, it was elevated outright to the Senate, which immediately convened as the impeachment court. But even before the Senate could complete the entire impeachment trial process, it was railroaded. Again, it was cut short. This time by the walkout of the prosecution team after the Senators voted 11-10 not to open the second envelope of evidence against the “Jose Velarde” secret bank account for the bribe money allegedly stashed by the erstwhile president.
The impeachment court co-chaired by Senate president, the late Sen. Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel Jr., and former Chief Justice Hilario Davide failed to stop the walkout of prosecutors, for reasons still unresolved in legal, constitutional and history books. One thing led to another and ended in the so-called “EDSA 2” when Mr. Estrada got ousted from his office at Malacañang Palace in January 2001. And as we say, the rest is history.
Fast forward to the present. By the resumption today of session at the Lower House, the scenario would more or less likely unfold as a possible reprise of the same impeach script, except it involves the planned ouster of the incumbent VP.
The complainants in the first impeachment complaint listed down a litany in the Articles of Impeachment formally submitted to the office of the House secretary-general. Aside from acts she did as the second highest elected leader at the Office of the Vice President (OVP), they also accused her of impeachable violations she allegedly committed while she was concurrently the secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd) until July this year.
At the heart of the House hearings on VP Sara was her alleged misuse of P625 million of confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) in 2022 and 2023 under the Congress-approved OVP budgets. Ignoring public declarations of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (PBBM) for his House allies to stand down, 16 private citizens from various sectoral groups filed the impeach case versus VP Sara and endorsed right away by known “yellow” Akbayan party-list Rep. Perci Cendaña last Dec. 2.
The second impeachment complaint was lodged by the Makabayan bloc at the Lower House last Dec. 4. Prepared by over 70 complainants from civil society groups, they invoked “betrayal of public trust” as the sole ground for impeaching VP Sara, outlining several actions that also included the alleged CIF misuse.
As of the last office hours on Friday, House secretary-general Reginald Velasco disclosed the twin impeach complaints were still under the verification process at his office. Following the impeach protocols, the two complaints are still supposedly going through this process before they can be transmitted to the office of the Speaker. Velasco admitted having withheld the submission after being told a possible third impeach complaint might be filed against VP Sara.
Despite directly accused by VP Sara as the mastermind behind the House investigations on the allegations against her, the Speaker has ostensibly allowed the House to strictly adhere and follow to the letter the impeachment procedures. But the optics indicated otherwise. The Speaker and the entire House contingent were purportedly treated to a “fellowship” dinner at Malacañang last Wednesday night.
As leaders and members of Congress conceded, impeachment is just another political process. It is just that, a numbers game.
If they don’t get the numbers, VP Sara will enjoy one year immunity from being impeached.
Article XI, Section 3, paragraph (5) of the country’s 1987 Constitution states: “No impeachment proceedings shall be initiated against the same official more than once within a period of one year.”
Both chambers of the 19th Congress have just nine session days left before they adjourn for their Christmas break on Dec. 20. PBBM has publicly declared the business of governance should not be unnecessarily distracted by impeachment activities. But Erap impeach 2.0 is there.