Solons: Don鈥檛 involve Marcos in impeachment, Congress is separate body
Lawmakers at the House of Representatives plenary. INQUIRER file photo / LYN RILLON
MANILA, Philippines — At least two lawmakers have urged their colleagues in both the House of Representatives and the Senate to refrain from dragging President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. from impeachment discussions, to ensure the separation of powers.
In a press briefing on Monday, Assistant Majority Leader and Lanao del Sur 1st District Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong said he disagrees with the position of the Makabayan bloc — that Marcos should already call a special session of Congress so that impeachment proceedings against Vice President Sara Duterte can start.
According to Adiong, the impartiality of the court should be maintained and no moves that may indicate influencing should be done.
“I think we should not directly involve the President in the case of impeachment, that’s my opinion in matters relating to the impeachment process because this is entirely within the scope and mandate of the Congress as the Constitution says […] I disagree in this case with the position of the Makabayan bloc, mga kaibigan ko naman sila (pero) sana ‘wag na nating directly na i-involve ang President,” he said.
(I disagree in this case with the position of the Makabayan bloc, they are my friends but I hope we do not directly involve the President here.)
Article continues after this advertisement“Sinasabi ho natin, we should maintain impartiality of the court. We should not be using anything or anyone or any organization to influence the senator-judges on how they would approach and appreciate the merits of the impeachment cases […] The more that we should disallow the President to involve directly kasi kailangan ho natin, baka sabihin naman ang mga critic na ‘yan, na ‘pag ang Presidente ang mag-request ng special session, it will translate into influencing,” he added.
Article continues after this advertisement(We have been saying that we should maintain impartiality of the court […] The more that we should disallow the President to involve directly because we need to maintain independence, the critics might say something if the President requests a special session, it will translate into influencing.)
On Monday, Makabayan bloc lawmakers, namely ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro, Gabriela party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas, and Kabataan party-list Rep. Raoul Manuel, said that Marcos should now call for a special congressional session, so that the Senate can convene as an impeachment court.
According to the three lawmakers, the Duterte camp’s “legal maneuvers” — filing petitions before the Supreme Court requesting a halt to the impeachment process— should already prompt Marcos to call for a special session.
READ: Marcos told: Call special Congress session to start Duterte impeachment
Similarly, Senate President Francis Escudero said that a special session has to be called for the impeachment proceedings to start.
READ: Escudero: Senate needs special session to start VP Duterte trial
However, Manila 1st District Rep. Ernesto Dionisio Jr. said he agrees with Adiong that Marcos should not be asked to meddle in congressional affairs.
“Dapat hindi makialam si President Bongbong Marcos in terms of doon sa impeachment process. Kasi ‘yung sinasabing calendar, legislative calendar yun eh, iba naman itong impeachment eh,” he said.
(President Bongbong Marcos should not be involved in terms of the impeachment process. Because the calendar of Congress is different from the impeachment.)
“It’s my humble opinion na papaanong mangyayari na si President Bongbong Marcos lang ang pwedeng gumawa ng hakbang para mag-proceed yung impeachment court ng Senate in convening, di parang nakaasa naman yung Senate sa iisang tao, sa Pangulo,” he added.
(It’s my humble opinion that it is not true that only President Bongbong Marcos can take steps to push the Senate into convening as an impeachment court, because the Senate should not rely on one person, in this case, the President.)
Adiong said he also believes, just like Iloilo 3rd District Rep. Lorenz Defensor who is a member of the prosecution panel, that the Senate can act on its own by starting the impeachment proceedings.
This may be considered similar, Adiong said, to scenarios where Congress does not not need to call for a special session just to act on a President’s declaration of war or a declaration of martial law.
“I tend to lean towards the legal opinion of one of our prosecutors, Congressman Lorenz Defensor, when he describes the impeachment process as sui generis, unique of its own, because this is not legislative work, this is something else, this is the trial of an accused, in this case the Vice President of the Republic.)
“And number two, there are provisions in the Constitution that once the President declares martial law, it does not need for the President to actually convene the Congress into a special session. The Congress can actually convene itself directly to a special session to discuss the issue, for example, martial law,” he added.
Duterte was impeached by the House last February 5 after 215 lawmakers filed and verified a fourth impeachment complaint. The articles of impeachment were immediately transmitted to the Senate, as the 1987 Constitution requires a trial to start forthwith if at least one-thirds of all House members — in this case, 102 out of 306 — have signed and endorsed the petition.
READ: House impeaches VP Sara Duterte, fast-tracking transmittal to Senate
However, trial has yet to start as the articles of impeachment were not forwarded to the Senate plenary before session ended on February 5 — which means that Congress would have to reconvene first after the election season, or through a special session to discuss the matter.
There are also conflicting opinions regarding whether it is proper for the current Senate to start the trial when the 2025 midterms elections would surely change the composition in the legislative chamber.
Former senator Ping Lacson however believes there is no issue if the impeachment trial starts within the 19th Congress and crosses over to the 20th Congress, based on the same principle used by the judiciary — where jurisdiction of a court division does not change despite the resignation or retirement of a sitting justice.
