ON VALENTINE’S Day, lawyer Catalino Gerenillo Jr. filed a petition for mandamus with the Supreme Court seeking a writ to compel the Senate to proceed “forthwith” with the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.
The petitioner cites Article 11, Section 3.1 of the Constitution which states that “in case the verified complaint or resolution of impeachment is filed by at least one-third of all the members of the House, the same shall constitute the Articles of Impeachment, and trial by the Senate shall proceed forthwith.”
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The Rules of the Senate provides that when the Senate receives the articles of impeachment, the President of the Senate “shall inform the House of Representatives that the Senate shall take proper order on the subject of impeachment and shall be ready to receive the prosecutors on such time and date as the Senate may specify.”
It would seem that it is the Senate President, acting alone, who must perform the initial actions that will signal the onset of a trial against the impeached official.
Gerenillo argues that the use of the word “forthwith” in the Constitution charges the Senate with the duty to “immediately” transform itself into an impeachment court and proceed with the impeachment trial without delay.
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Does this raise an issue that is ripe for adjudication, or will the Supreme Court reserve judgment and dismiss Gerenillo’s petition on the ground that it presents a political question and that the timeline for an impeachment trial rests solely within the judgment or discretion of the impeachment court?
After all, the Constitution says that the Senate has “the sole power to try and decide all cases of impeachment.”
Does this mean that the appreciation of the phrase “trial shall proceed forthwith,” should not lie with any other body, not even the Supreme Court?
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Note that the Senate Rules require the Senate president to take his oath as presiding officer of an impeachment trial without providing a distinction between the period when the Senate is in session or when it is on recess.
Retired Supreme Court Justice Adolfo Azcuna himself is urging Sen. Francis Escudero to take his oath so the Senate can already acquire jurisdiction over the case.
Indeed, as mentioned, it is Escudero’s duty to “inform the House of Representatives that the Senate shall take proper order on the subject of impeachment.”
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Azcuna fears that the articles of impeachment will become ineffectual should the Senate fail to assert jurisdiction before an entirely new set of congressmen occupy seats allotted for the 20th Congress.
Azcuna explained that the Senate can take jurisdiction this early with Escudero taking his oath as presiding officer of the impeachment proceedings.
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Is the Senate president considering this suggestion, or is he sticking to his timeline suggesting that the actual impeachment trial against VP Sara will begin after President Marcos’ State of the Nation Address in July?
That is five months of something possibly happening to the President while his constitutional successor remains under cloud of removal from office./PN
