PhilStar: Tit for tat
Tit for tat – this is to be expected in the partisan exercise that is impeachment. Especially when the feuding groups are both headed by impeachable officials.
As if the country didn’t have enough urgent problems, Congress during its break is preoccupied with efforts to oust the nation’s two highest officials. After an impeachment complaint was filed against President Duterte for alleged betrayal of public trust, extrajudicial killings and corruption, his “super majority” allies in the House of Representatives are reportedly contemplating a similar move against his constitutional successor, Vice President Leni Robredo.
Administration allies, who are sure to have the required 100 votes to send Robredo to the Senate for an impeachment trial, suspect her of involvement in a destabilization campaign. Bolstering their suspicion is a videotaped message she sent to a special United Nations meeting on human rights, in which she expressed concern over abuses committed in the course of the brutal drug war. The message was aired on the same day that the impeachment complaint was filed against President Duterte by a party-list group to which one of his harshest critics belongs.
The first time a president was impeached by the House and tried by the Senate, the proceedings ended with a walkout in the impeachment court and people power II, culminating in a leadership change. In the succeeding years, however, Filipinos have exhibited people power fatigue, so this scenario may not be repeated.
Instead, if ever either Duterte or Robredo is impeached, or both of them are made to face trial, it’s more likely that the process will be allowed to take its course, as in the case of impeached chief justice Renato Corona.
This can take several months, and even a year if both Duterte and Robredo are impeached. Congress, with the nation watching, will be fully preoccupied, to the detriment of the many other issues requiring urgent official attention. Even judicial work, already slow enough, will be affected as the Chief Justice will be presiding over the impeachment trial.
The warring political camps may have legitimate grievances against each other. But there must be a way of demanding accountability and promoting good governance without seriously derailing action on many matters of national importance.
