EDITORIAL - Impartial judges

Even before examining the Articles of Impeachment, several senators have announced that they will oppose the ouster of Vice President Sara Duterte by the impeachment court. The statements have led to suggestions that such senators should inhibit themselves from the impeachment trial.

While impeachment is mainly a political numbers game at the House of Representatives, the trial must be impartial and judgment based on solid evidence. Like congressmen, senators are politicians, but their political alliances must take a back seat to the national interest. They are on the public payroll and they are sworn to serve the people with honesty and integrity – issues that are at stake in the Articles of Impeachment brought against the second highest official of the land.

Impeachment is always disruptive to national life, which makes it all the more important to ensure that the process is credible. Conviction by an impeachment court will permanently bar the Vice President from public office. This will eliminate her as a candidate for president in 2028 – something that she has said she is seriously considering.

Senators, who will be sitting as judges, bear a greater burden than congressmen of showing fairness and impartiality in the impeachment process. This burden goes both ways, for both the supporters and opponents of the ouster of the Vice President. The last thing supporters of the impeachment should want is to reinforce perceptions that her ouster is being railroaded.

With the impeachment process under way, President Marcos, who originally came out strongly against the move, is now keeping his distance from what he has described as an act of a co-equal and independent branch of government. His son and cousin are for the impeachment while his elder sister has openly vowed to fight it. Yesterday, the President said amid his repeated denials of involvement in the impeachment: “I’m just a very interested observer.”

Even if the President has no role in the impeachment trial, he is making an effort to show impartiality. It would be prudent for senators to maintain the same stance.