Historical Notes On Impeachment (Part I)

Thursday, 28 April 2011 11:02

Written by Tony La Viña

This is Part I of a series of columns I will write on the impeachment process. My intent is to educate my readers on the process so that by the time the impeachment trial of Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez opens, they can understand the event as it unfolds. During the trial, my intent is to write a daily commentary to be published in this magazine so people may have a perspective of the impeachment process.

Impeaching an official is not of recent vintage in the Philippines. Several Philippines presidents had to undergo the specter of impeachment in the past though none succeeded. In 1947, a five-count complaint was filed against Elpidio Quirino on charges ranging from nepotism to gross expenditures. In the end, the congressional committee exonerated Quirino. Next to pass the crucible was Diosdado Macapagal who, in 1963, was threatened impeachment by the Nacionalista Congress and another one against Marcos by fifty-six assemblymen who got wind by a news expose on the alleged real estate acquisitions by the First Family in the United States. The complaint against Marcos did not ever reach first base when the following day, the House Committee on Justice dismissed the complaint for insufficiency in form and substance.

Most of us are now somewhat familiar with the key features of an impeachment trial; after all, the word “Impeachment” has cropped up, time and again, in our legal lexicon and into the mainstream language, thanks to the initiatives of the complainants who are mostly either members of Congress, such as, Roilo Golez, Oscar Moreno, Satur Ocampo Montemayor, and Gilbert Teodoro or of the legal profession, most notably perennial complainant Atty. Oliver Lozano who would file a complaint against GMA at the flick of a finger. These impeachment complaints targeted a hodge-podge of key government officials like justices of the Supreme Court, two Chief Justices, namely, Narvasa and Davide, Presidents Estrada and Arroyo, Ombudsman Aniano Desierto and Comelec Commissioners Tancangco and Gorospe. Perhaps, President Arroyo suffered the most number of attempts having been charged over alleged corruption, vote-rigging and other crimes. Again, none succeeded when they either failed to muster enough votes in the House Committee of Justice; hence dismissed, or shot down by the Supreme Court for various legal infirmities. The impeachment complaint that reached the most advanced stage is the one filed against Estrada which underwent initial hearings in the Senate until derailed when the prosecutors walked out after losing on a vote.

In the United States, three presidents went through impeachment proceedings. Andrew Johnson, 17th president and the one who succeeded Abraham Lincoln after his assassination, was charged for violating the Tenure of Office Act. Subsequently, he was exonerated in the Senate trial by a single vote. The now infamous Watergate Scandal triggered the impeachment of Nixon in 1974 who resigned during the proceedings. He avoided prosecution when Gerald Ford granted him pardon. President Clinton’s sexual misadventures led to his being impeached in 1995 for obstruction of justice and grand jury perjury.

According to Wikedpedia, from 1797 to the present, the House of Representatives has impeached sixteen federal officials - two presidents, a cabinet member, a senator, a justice of the Supreme Court, and eleven federal judges. The Senate has convicted and removed seven, all of whom were judges. In contrast, in less than a hundred years, the Philippines has seen around a dozen attempts of impeachment with only two successful impeachments – President Estrada and now Ombudsman Gutierrez.

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