Solons: Dynamics change in impeachment, House, Senate no longer equal
House of Representatives — File photo
MANILA, Philippines — After the Senate returned the articles of impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte to the House of Representatives, some netizens anticipated a strong backlash from the prosecution team members, given that this is the latest setback to a formal trial.
Lawyers like Chel Diokno and even prosecution team member Manila 3rd District Rep. Joel Chua questioned why senators, sitting as judges in an impeachment court, seem to lawyer for the Vice President.
READ: Diokno tells Senate: Judges not allowed to make motions
However, when the press briefing started on Wednesday, many wondered why the House prosecution team, although they deferred acceptance of the returned articles, responded in a respectful manner.
Different prosecutors said the Senate and the House as a lawmaking institutions are co-equal branches of the legislative department. This however ceases when the Senate convenes into an impeachment court, as the Senate plays the role of judges and the House lawmakers are prosecutors required to follow a court’s orders.
“Kasi iba po ‘yong personalidad ng House, kami as members of the House, kami as members of the prosecution group. Magkaiba po ‘yon, as members of the House, co-equal kami (with the Senate). Pero as prosecutors, we obey yung mga orders na mga judges,” Antipolo 2nd District Rep. Romeo Acop said.
“So kami sumusunod sa mga utos ng impeachment court because we are the prosecutors,” he added.
The same sentiments were mentioned by 1-Rider party-list Rep. Ramon Rodrigo Gutierrez and Batangas 2nd District Rep. Gerville Luistro, who both noted that dynamics change when talking about the impeachment proceedings.
“From our understanding and as per we have discussed earlier I think it’s very clear: originally although we are co-equal as members of the House and as members, Senators, very different po ‘yong dynamics when we are now talking of the impeachment court and the prosecution panel,” Gutierrez said.
“Kanina po binanggit na ng ating lead prosecutor na when we talk about the impeachment court, iba na po ang set-up d’yan. We might be a co-equal as a legislative body, the Senate and the Congress, but when we speak about the impeachment court, they are the senator-judges and we are the prosecutors,” Luistro added.
During the press briefing, Luistro and the rest of the prosecution team repeatedly said that their decision to defer acceptance of the returned articles is not a defiance or a disobedience of the Senate order, but a temporary action until the impeachment court clarifies some matters.
“I don’t think so,” Luistro said when asked if the House’s deferment of the acceptance of the articles of impeachment. “We are not defying the order, we are not disobeying the order, what I said earlier, we are deferring the receipt until we are clarified on the actions taken by the Senate last night.”
“Again, we do not defy, we do not disobey, we are merely deferring receipt of the same to give way to the clarification of all these issues surrounding the actions taken by the Senate last night. That is in as far as I am concerned, as part of the prosecution panel, because as I have said earlier, it is not the job of prosecutors to accept the articles of impeachment that were sent back.,” she added.
READ: House to seek clarity on Senate’s remand before receiving case
The remand of the articles came after 18 senator-judges on Tuesday evening voted in favor of the motion introduced by Senator-Judge Alan Peter Cayetano. The motion seeks to ensure that constitutional safeguards and issues of jurisdiction were not violated.
Two issues were mentioned: concerns on whether the articles of impeachment did not violate the Constitutional provision stating that only one impeachment complaint can be initiated against an impeachable official; second, that the articles do not step on the jurisdiction and authority of the 20th Congress.
READ: Senate votes to send Duterte impeachment back to House
Gutierrez and Luistro also insisted that the House followed the provisions under the 1987 Constitution.
“All that we can say for sure is that we believe that we have followed the constitution, we are confident that the proper processes were obeyed, so if there is that remanding — whether or not that would be within their powers — that would be something not for us to decide,” Gutierrez said.
“I believe we are obliged to comply with their orders, to follow, for as long as the orders are within the bounds of the law,” Luistro added. /jpv
