Impeachment: Too much of a political tool EDITORIAL 09/16/2010

Impeachment: Too much of a political tool

EDITORIAL

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09/16/2010
No impeachable officer — and that includes Supreme Court (SC) justices, along with the President and Vice President of the Republic --- wants to undergo an impeachment process, mainly because it has become too much of a political tool and performed by Congress whose many members can be bought off or bribed with a promise of an important posting under a new government — if a president is made to undergo an impeachment process, as it was in the case of then sitting President Joseph Estrada, where both the Senate and House opposition broke all rules, and even the rule of law, just to get Estrada ousted, as the political opposition wanted to be in power and position under a new government

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Then came the time of impeachment proceedings against then SC Chief Justice Hilario Davide, where the requirements were met in the matter of numbers, but one complaint that the House did not want to be brought to the Senate for trial, and neither the Senate, then headed by Franklin Drilon, wanted to accept it either.

And so they called on the SC to rule on this issue, wanting it to stop the impeachment process against Davide, who was the ally of Corazon Aquino, Gloria Arroyo and their allies in the House and the Senate.

It was a big mistake they made, because they opened the door for the SC to foray into the internal affairs of a co-equal body.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100916com1.html