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[av_heading heading=’VIEPWOINTS | Impeachment’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY OSCAR CRUZ
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Saturday, March 25, 2017
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IT IS FAST becoming a fashion. It is the talk of the town as something to watch for and witness to – and be entertained even. So it cannot be but a multimedia favorite as some kind of a big and signal unfolding drama worth watching and talking about – even but to pass the time away.
Right: it is about the projected impeachment of this and that high political figures – the highest two, in fact. Who will be likewise impeached thereafter and what for? Will one or both the impeachment cases prosper and come to their desired and thus pursued conclusion?
And if the now two envisioned candidates for impeachment would be thrown out of their offices, who will then be left behind in government to render public service, to promote what is right and just in the national level? And those thus left behind in leadership, will they then be likewise candidates for impeachment later on, for one cause or another? This is not only interesting but intriguing as well.
It might be good to point out the standing reality that in the last analysis, impeachment is basically by and large a partisan political exercise – all arguments to the contrary notwithstanding.
Translation: Blessed is any public official who is a candidate for impeachment but has the partisan political support of the majority political party in the legislative department – irrespective of whether the alleged impeachable offense is really true or not, objectively serious or otherwise.
Such is one phenomenon when what really matters is affiliation to or identification with the ruling political party – be this red or yellow, plus the affiliates. So it is that in the last analysis, much more than what is right or wrong, what is virtuous or censurable, what intrinsically matters is partisan politics viz., who are the politicians who are ruling and who are those in effect ruled.
Remember the last impeachment political exercise – with a judicial figure as target thereof? It was quickly prepared and brought to trial quickly as well as immediately attended to by the legislative department as a whole. It underwent the process fast and declared the impeachment of the public official fast as well. Formal impeachment ground invoked: imperfect SALN (Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth). Real impeachment cause: Meddling in an hacienda. Winning factor of impeachment: Political majority under the leadership of a truly high-ranking political figure who is in fact one of the hacienda heirs.
So it is that the real and basic cause of impeachment had really nothing to do with any down-to-earth cause as provided by the Constitution. Incidentally, the prime mover designate of the impeachment in the legislative has been long since dead quiet. Why oh why?
Thus provides the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines: “The President, Vice President…may be removed from office, upon impeachment for and conviction of culpable violation of the Constitution, treason, bribery, graft and corruption, and other high crimes, or betrayal of public trust…” (Art. 11, Section 2)
So is it that nowhere is the reality, significance, and implications of political affiliation in any way, directly or indirectly mentioned in the said constitutional provision. But there are few if any, who actually think that it is not by and large partisan politics that determine who will be in fact impeached or not at all.
This is not meant to say that the framers of the above-cited Constitution did not do right, did not do enough. It is simply those who implement the said constitutional provision who undo it in favour of political affiliation. This is sad but true./PN
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