(Last of three parts)
“Impeachment proceedings can still proceed even if Vice President Sara Duterte resigns from office”
ALTERNATIVELY, the Senate can decide to conduct the trial immediately as impeachment is not a legislative function but a constitutional duty. One can even argue that this is a mandatory duty as the Constitution is quite clear when trial must begin.
According to Article XI, Section 3, paragraph 4: “ In case the verified complaint or resolution of impeachment is filed by at least one-third of all the Members of the House, the same shall constitute the Articles of Impeachment, and trial by the Senate shall forthwith proceed.”
This is akin to the constitutional duty of members of both Houses of Congress to convene to canvass and proclaim the winners of the presidential elections as well as to assemble to revoke or extend the declaration of martial law by the President.
They can convene even of they are on recess.
10. Can the impeachment proceedings proceed even if VP Sara resigns in office?
Yes, impeachment proceedings can still proceed even if Vice President Sara Duterte resigns from office.
Impeachment is a process used to hold high-ranking officials accountable for alleged wrongdoing. If articles of impeachment have already been filed and the process is underway, Congress may decide whether to continue the proceedings.
However, if the official resigns before conviction, the process may become moot and academic, meaning there would be no need to remove someone who is no longer in office. But the officer can still be convicted by the impeachment court and a penalty of disqualification to hold public office may still be imposed against the official.
In the case of President Trump in 2021, he was impeached and tried, unfortunately acquitted, after he left office.
That said, if there are legal or constitutional violations involved, other legal avenues (such as criminal or administrative cases) may still be pursued after resignation.
11. What is meant by the One Year Bar Rule in the filing of impeachment Complaint?
Article XI, Section 3, paragraph (5) of the Constitution reads: “No impeachment proceedings shall be initiated against the same official more than once within a period of one year.”
The 1987 Constitution limits the number of impeachment complaints that can be filed against an official to one per year. There has been controversy over what counts as an impeachment complaint.
While some argued that for a complaint to count against the limit it must be voted on, and others have proposed other interpretations, the House has decided that any complaint filed fulfills the quota regardless of how well-formed it is or who filed it.
Therefore, supporters of a vulnerable official can file a weak, flawed, or unconstitutional complaint, thereby using up the quota and protecting that official from impeachment for that year.
There has also been debate about whether a year should be a calendar year, say 2006, or a full 12-month period.
An example of how this limit works in practice are the attempts to impeach President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
While the Philippine impeachment procedures parallel the United States’ impeachment procedures, the two procedures differ in two significant ways: the percentage needed to impeach and the numerical limit on impeachment procedures.
12. How was the One Year Bar Rule Applied in the Case of Ombudsman Meceditas Gutierrez? When is an impeachment complaint initiated?
The context of the case is rooted in the impeachment complaints filed against Gutierrez.
The petitioner argued that the House of Representatives had improperly initiated a second impeachment proceeding against her within a one-year bar period, as established by the Constitution.
The petitioner contended that the initiation of impeachment proceedings should be reckoned from the filing of the complaint, and that the referral of the complaint to the committee was not an integral part of the initiation process.
The primary issue is whether the initiation of impeachment proceedings should be reckoned from the filing of the complaint or from the referral of the complaint to the committee.
In sum, VP Sara can be impeached again later in 2025 one year after the first impeachment complaint was filed.