2. Purpose:
• A panel discussion is a public
exchange of ideas with a goal of
informing audience members about
a particular subject or issue. Its like
Brainstorming. We are here to
inform you more about our topic
"Impeachment for Dummies: A
primer".
3. Impeachment
• An impeachment is a statement of
“verified” charges filed by at least
one third (95) of Congressmen. It is
not a conviction. Like an indictment
in a criminal case, the accused still
has to be tried.
4. • An impeachment is a political process not a
legal one. Thus, the accused may be
“convicted” even if he has not committed a
crime: The Senators may simply deem he is
unfit to hold his office.
• For Erap’s condition, he was detained because
of a Sandiganbayan decision, not because of
the impeachment trial.
5. • The prosecution is represented by 11 Congressmen
called Representative-Prosecutors.
• The prosecutors and Senators are not bound by
court rules of procedure and evidence. However they
must be fair and consistent.
• The Senators, most of them non- lawyers, are
expected to vote based on public interest, not
necessarily on the law. Their verdict is not
appealable.
6. • The President, VP, Supreme Court Justices,
Members of a Constitutional Commission and
the Ombudsman can be impeached for
“Culpable violation of the Constitution,
treason, bribery, graft and corruption, other
high crimes or violation of public trust”. Only
Erap and Ombudsman Gutierrez have ever
been impeached.
• The other charges are self-explanatory.
7. Culpable violation of the
Constitution
• the willful disregard of the
fundamental law
8. Other high crimes
• offenses so serious as to affect the
orderly workings of Government.
9. Betrayal of the public
trust
• denotes any act unbecoming of a
public official such as abuse of
authority or neglect of duty
10. THE CHARGES
• For being partial in cases involving GMA.
• For non-disclosure of his Statement of
Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN).
• For flip-flopping decisions in final and
executory cases.
• For breaching the Constitutional
separation of powers by issuing a status
quo ante in the impeachment against the
Ombudsman Gutierrez.
11. • For arbitrariness and for resurrecting decided cases
involving the status of 16 newly created cities and
promotion of Dinagat Island into a province.
• For partiality in granting the TRO and related
decisions in the GMA travel matter.
• Improperly exculpating Justice del Castillo in the
plagiarism case.
• For not adequately accounting for the Judiciary Dev.
Fund and Special Allowances.
12. THE DEFENSE
• The Articles are defective because they have not
been “verified” by the 188 signatories as
constitutionally required. “Verification” means
reading the complaint and affirming the charges
based on the evidence.
• The SC is a collegial body in which the Chief
Justice is only one of 15 votes.
• As with the other Justices, the CJ has
administratively if not “publicly” disclosed his
SALNs. Only two, Carpio and Sereno, have
publicly disclosed theirs.
13. • Theoretically, the Senators should
vote based on the evidence.
• The public seems to favor a
conviction because it sees Corona as
an extension of GMA.
• There are 9 likely to convict, 9
undecided, and 5 unlikely. Only 8
are needed to acquit.
14. • The key to the public, the one they
understand and the easiest to prove
if at all, is the case for ill-gotten
wealth even though, ironically, it is
not specified in the Articles. If this is
bullet-proof then we will have a new
Chief Justice. Otherwise a conviction
is challenging unless the CJ resigns.
