“In any impeachment trial, we have to consider the legal and the political aspect”
WITH 24 senators sitting down as judges in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte on June 11, some people are divided in their opinion on the outcome.
Santa Banana, some are speculating Duterte will surely not be impeached because of the emergence of the Duterte bloc in the Senate, together with the opposition.
But to me, as a lawyer, I have always known that in any impeachment trial, as we learned from the case of former Chief Justice Renato Corona and former President Joseph Estrada, there are two things to consider.
First is the legal aspect and second is the political aspect of the trial.
As to the legal aspect, I cannot expect Duterte to get out of the big hole of her own making by having millions of pesos of her Confidential Funds given to unknown and fictitious people who have no record in the PSA (Philippine Statistics Authority).
The PSA has recorded that they have so many unknown and fictitious persons without birth certificates, marriage certificates nor death certificates as recipients of over 250 million pesos of the Confidential Funds.
I do not know how Duterte will be able to explain this, because to me, the biggest factor in convicting Sara Duterte is precisely the existence of fictitious recipients of millions of pesos in her Confidential and Intelligence Funds as Vice President and as former Secretary of Education.
On the other hand, when the Senate judges vote, considering the balance of power between the Duterte bloc and the administration allies, it could be a political decision.
A big factor to consider: How will Senator Imee Marcos vote, considering that she is very close to VP Duterte? Another factor to consider is how will Camille Villar vote, considering that she is also close to the VP.
There are other elements to consider.
First of all, how will Senator Marcoleta, who is identified with the Iglesia ni Cristo, vote and the Duterte bloc is composed of topnotchers in the Senate race, like Bong Go and Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa.
These are the considerations that we have to take in the judgment of whether or not the VP will be impeached or not.
Remember if the prosecution lawyers will be able to prove beyond reasonable doubt, Santa Banana, whether or not Sara Duterte abused and misused her Confidential Funds, is to me the biggest factor to consider.
Santa Banana, if this can be proven by the prosecution, it would constitute betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution.
And since the Vice President is the No. 2 public official of the land, it will surely be the biggest factor that will condemn her.
However, as I said, there are two factors to consider: the legal factor and the political factor.
In the end, I cannot speculate how the senators, who are the judges of the trial, will vote.
As I said, there are already among the judges a Duterte bloc and opposition from the newly elected senators like Bam Aquino and Kiko Pangilinan Again, I cannot predict and speculate how they will vote.
These are all facts to consider.
In the end, after the trial of the Vice President by the senators, to me as a lawyer and a journalist, I just depend on the truth. I cannot be prejudicial. This is what I mean when I say as a journalist it all now depends on the legal arguments of the prosecution.
We must remember that graft and corruption by any public official is already a betrayal of public trust and a culpable violation of the Constitution.
These are the most crucial elements of the trial.
