Impeachment as a political weapon

The president showed some statesmanship when he told the Speaker of the House Pantaleon Alvarez to stop any move to impeach the vice president. Albeit the administration has the numbers, any such divisive move is not good for the country. That is leadership.And the vice president and her allies, including the LP, should be discerning enough to take such magnanimity as a sign of political maturity. Impeachment is a political weapon but it may end up hurting its proponents more that it does the intended target.

The consensus among students and teachers of law worldwide, and at least, of Philippine law, is that impeachment is not really as much a legal procedure as it is a political exercise. The citizenry, acting through their duly elected representatives in popular congresses, may use such a weapon to oust any head of government, and even any head of state who exceeds the bounds defined by any nation's fundamental law or Constitution. Of course, the option to impeach cannot be taken lightly. There are specific grounds for impeachment. Thus it cannot be abused as well. Politicians cannot use impeachment as if it were not an extraordinary political process designed for certain exceptional circumstances.

In the Philippines, the rules are very clear, as laid down underArticle XI of the constitution. Only the following officials may be removed by impeachment: the President, the vice president, the members of the Supreme Court, the members of Comelec, COA, Civil Service Commission, and the Ombudsman. All other officials are removed by, among others, the Sandiganbayan and other courts, as provided by law. The grounds for impeachment are also limited to: conviction of any of the following: culpable violation of the Constitution, treason, bribery, graft and corruption, other high crimes, or betrayal of public trust. There are technical meanings of the terms ''culpable violations'' and ''high crimes", among others.

Based on political realities, the impeachment charge filed by Partido Magdalo (thus linked to Senator Trillanes) has no chance of ever seeing the light of day. It shall be ''killed'' at first sight by a House of Representatives under the uncompromising party discipline, control, and domination of Speaker Alvarez. It is not really a matter of sufficiency in form or in substance. It is a matter of how many representatives are aligned with the administration, and how many might dare to defy the high and the mighty under pain of losing committee chairmanships, and of pork barrel (by whatever name it is now being called). Impeachment complaints are not really matters of merits but matters of which side has the numbers.

Indeed, impeachment is more likely to hurt the hands of those who use it recklessly. Therefore, this column submits, with no fear of plausible objections, that both the opposition that dangles the threat of impeaching President Duterte, as well as the administration that brandishes a threat to impeach Vice President Robredo may both end up wounding themselves without really hurting their respective targets. The president has the wisdom to understand all these. The opposition should be mature enough to do the same.