Davide all set for historic role as presiding justice

Supreme Court Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. is all set to preside over the historic impeachment trial of President Estrada on Dec. 7.

Today, Davide will take his oath as presiding justice before Senate President Aquilino Pimentel Jr. and in turn administer the oath of the 22 senators who will be sitting as jurors.

Justice Artemio Panganiban told The STAR yesterday Davide had started downloading "impeachment-related subjects" from the Internet as early as last month.

"He (Davide) has been doing his assignment," he said.

Panganiban said Davide also informed him that he had obtained a copy of the US Senate’s rules of impeachment used for the trial of President Bill Clinton.

"He is a towering person of integrity and personifies four ideals–integrity, independence, intelligence, and industry," Panganiban said of Davide. "Not a whip of scandal has ever tainted him."

Panganiban said Pimentel had personally handed to Davide at the Supreme Court last Thursday a copy of the Articles of Impeachment against the President which had been approved by the House of Representatives.

The 64-year-old Davide was chairman of the Commission of Elections in 1988 until he was appointed by then President Corazon Aquino in 1989 to head the Presidential Fact-Finding Commission investigating the coup attempts against her administration.

During the Marcos regime in 1979, Davide was minority floor leader of the Interim Batasang Pambansa, and before the declaration of martial law, was a delegate to the 1971 Constitutional Convention.

After becoming Supreme Court justice in 1991, Davide was among those who voted against the petition from PIRMA, or the People’s Initiative for Reform, Modernization and Action, to extend the term of President Fidel Ramos through an amendment of the Constitution.

Davide also favored the acquittal of former First Lady Imelda Marcos of graft charges; to allow Filipino businessmen to acquire the Manila Hotel and other heritage establishments; to declare as unconstitutional the 1996 Oil Deregulation Law; and to void the Ramos administration’s 75-25 sharing scheme with the Marcos family on their alleged ill-gotten wealth.

Meanwhile, Leyte Rep. Sergio Apostol, who is one of the 11 House-appointed prosecutors, told The STAR yesterday that the impeachment trial of Mr. Estrada could last for a year.

Apostol said the lawyers of Mr. Estrada can question before the Supreme Court every possible issue that they may deem as adverse to the Chief Executive’s case.

"They (defense counsels) can seek relief from the SC," he said. "Nobody can stop them from doing that. You know very well that once a case is filed in court, the Senate might not pursue the proceedings and they (defense) might get a TRO. The Senate might stop, that’s very possible. And it may take one year."

Apostol said one ground that the defense may question is the alleged "railroading" of the articles of impeachment by former Speaker Manuel Villar Jr. last Nov. 13.

On the other hand, a source at the Supreme Court said another issue that may crop up is the number of votes needed in the Senate to convict President Estrada, and to disqualify senators who may have prejudged the case; and whether the Chief Executive must personally appear at the trial, or if he can invoke his right against self-incrimination.

"You must remember that this is all a first," he said. "Even after the President, for example, is acquitted of the charges, the outnumbered senators can still elevate the case to the SC if they found grave abuse of the voting of most of the senators."