FROM all indications, the Senate will constitute itself as an impeachment court and proceed with the delayed trial of impeached Vice President Sara Duterte, also known as “Misfit Sara.” The unmitigated flow and consistency of public opinion against the persistent refusal of Senate President Francis Escudero, widely notorious as “Tricky Tsis,” to delay and dismiss the delayed impeachment trial has been too sweeping and overpowering to ignore.
The Senate has no choice but to cave in and give way to the public demand for the Senate to convene as an impeachment court to try Misfit Sara for the alleged misdeeds contained in the Articles of Impeachment, which 240 members of the House of Representatives have signed and submitted to the Senate on Feb. 5, or four months ago.
Legal luminaries have opposed Tricky Tsis’s distorted interpretation of the word “forthwith” in the 1987 Constitution, triggering contrary opinions that have centered on what appeared to be his misunderstanding of the Charter. But it was the opinion of retired Supreme Court Adolf Azcuna that solidified the contrary views on Tricky Tsis’s stand on the issue.
Forthwith means immediate, or no delay, in convening the Senate as an impeachment court to hold trial on impeached Misfit Sara, according to Azcuna, who, as one of the 49 members of the commission that drafted the 1987 Constitution, wrote the provisions on the impeachment of the impeachable public officials under the 1987 Constitution.
Azcuna, in his published opinion on social media, indicated Tricky Tsis, as the Senate President, does not have much choice concerning the Articles of Impeachment that has been submitted to the Senate. His job entails him to have the Articles read in the Senate, when it convenes on Tuesday, June 11.
Incoming Sen. Tito Sotto, a former Senate President who could be regarded as more knowledgeable of the job of Senate President than Tricky Tsis, a newcomer to the job, said the Senate President in the person of Tricky Tsis is not the Senate. “He is only the presiding officer,” Sotto said in what appeared to be his way to chide Tricky Tsis for making the unilateral but objectionable decisions for the Senate.
Tricky Tsis earlier said the Senate will have the Articles of Impeachment to be read, as the Senate convenes as an impeachment court on June 11, or the last day before Congress goes into a sine die adjournment before the end of its term on June 30. Outgoing Sen. Francis Tolentino, a mediocre lawmaker, also said the Articles of Impeachment could be regarded as “functionally dismissed,” if the Senate fails to meet as an impeachment court and acknowledge the Articles.
Tolentino’s functionally limited view of the impeachment process has drawn a backlash as most legal luminaries, including Azcuna, have claimed that the Senate is a “continuing institution.” The 20th Congress will start its term on June 30, or immediately after the end of the term of the 19th Congress.
As his way to chastise Tolentino for what could be viewed as his erratic interpretation of the constitutional provisions on the impeachment process, Azcuna said: “The Articles of Impeachment received by the Senate in the 19th Congress will not lapse with that Congress but will be carried over to the 20th Congress because Trial of Impeachment cases is not a function of Legislative Power but it is a Constituent Power. It is lodged not to the Senate specifically not under Article VI on Legislative Power but under Article XI on Accountability of Public Officers.
“So it does not fall under the rule that unfinished business lapses with the outgoing Congress because the Constitution says the opposite – that the trial must ‘proceed’ meaning it must continue until it is finished. It cannot proceed if it is made to lapse. Since it must proceed, it follows that it does not have to lapse.”
Between the opinion of a judicial giant in the person of Azcuna, whose reputation is beyond reproach or shadow of doubt, and the opinion of a mediocre lawmaker, who was soundly rejected by the Filipino people in the last midterm elections and whose six-year term in the Senate has been marked by lackluster performance in the person of Tolentino, the answer to the question is obvious.
According to Azcuna: “A dismissal of the Articles by the Senate of the 19th Congress after receiving it and without proceeding to trial would be a grave violation of the Constitution. It can be reversed by the Supreme Court or the Senate of the 20th Congress on a proper motion for reconsideration.”
At the moment, big plans are afoot to hold massive mass protest actions in front of the Senate building in Pasay City to pressureTricky Tsis to convene the Senate as an impeachment court and hold trial for Misfit Sara. They also plan to pressure Tricky Tsis to resign his post as Senate President.
At the moment, Tricky Tsis and his gang of allies of Misfit Sara appear to have been cornered and they have no choice but to inhibit from any participation in the proceedings since they have issued public statements that could be regarded as prejudgment to free Misfit Sara of guilt.
At the moment, it would appear that a mere motion for reconsideration would be enough for the Senate of the 20th Congress to convene as an impeachment court even if the Senate of the 19th Congress refused to do the convening.
Tricky Tsis and his noisy gangmates are kaput. If it were the game of chess, their situation is a zugzwang. Any move is a losing move that would only lead to their collective political demise.
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impeachment trial .ust go on