Impeachment 101: Meaning, origin, purpose

Are all people who post despicable inanities and manifest garbage on social media knowledgeable about impeachment? I’m afraid many of them display ignorance or plain stupidity.

“Impeachment” simply means to diminish one's credibility, destroy one's stature of prestige or honor, disparage and diminish one's standing in an office, assembly or community, unmask a pretender to a seat of honor, or to expose the hidden shenanigans of an official. Lawyers in court proceedings use the term “impeaching the witness of the opposing party” as a legal technique to remove the credibility of his testimony. It’s a defensive technique in the form of an offensive tactic.

In the context of constitutional law and parliamentary procedures, Impeachment is a process by which a legislative body or other legally-constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct in a proceeding that may lead to the removal of said official. It’s a legal proceeding but not a criminal trial. The result is merely removal and if warranted, also perpetual disqualification from holding public office. But there shall be no imprisonment or punitive fine.

The word impeachment is derived from the old French word "empeechier", meaning to impede or prevent, and from the older Latin term "impedire" meaning "ensnaring" or "catching in the act". It’s equivalent to the English word "impede" or to obstruct. Impeachment in the context of politics means to prevent an official from doing more harm to the nation by exposing his evil deeds and remove him from power.

Impeachment was first used in the fourteenth century when Baron William Latimer was impeached by the Parliament of England for corruption. The U.S. Constitution adopted the concept starting from 1776 when the Constitution of the State of Virginia was ordained and promulgated and also in Massachusetts in 1780. The Philippine Constitutions of 1935, 1973, and 1987 adopted the concept and included it in our fundamental laws.

The U.S. Constitution and federal laws provide for impeachment whereby the House of Representative, by a vote of majority, may approve articles of impeachment and transmit it to the Senate which is mandated to proceed with a formal trial. The 100 senators, two representing each of the 50 states, shall hear the articles of impeachment as well as the defenses by the respondent and vote for acquittal or conviction. A two-thirds vote, or 67 senators voting to convict, are required by the U.S. Constitution.

In our country, only one-third of the total House members are required for the articles of impeachment to be transmitted to the Senate. Since there are 318 members, only 106 are needed for the approval of the articles. This can easily be achieved by the current leadership of the House, which is aligned with BBM. However, in the Senate, it’s very difficult to get a two-thirds vote or 16 senators to vote for conviction. The last count indicates that the said articles of impeachment are bound to result in acquittal.

Impeachment isn’t a criminal trial where decisions are based on evidence beyond reasonable doubt. It’s a political warfare where the basis of conviction is numbers of senators for conviction or acquittal. The following senators are expected to vote for acquittal: Francis Escudero, Alan Peter Cayetano, Pia Cayetano, Mark Villar, Camille Villar, Bong Go, Bato de la Rosa, Rodante Marcoleta, Robin Padilla, Imee Marcos, Jinggoy Estrada, Joel Villanueva. Pia will respect her brothers' close alliance with the Dutertes. The Villars have axes to grind against BBM, and Mark was Duterte's DPWH secretary.

Only the following are poised to convict: Risa Hontiveros, Bam Aquino, Kiko Pangilinan, Loren Legarda, Raffy and Erwin Tulfo and JV Ejercito. We cannot be sure with Migz Zubiri. But Senate President Tito Sotto and his sidekick Ping Lacson are more likely to vote for conviction. With 12 to 13 senators for acquittal and only seven or eight for conviction, this impeachment will most likely result in victory for the Dutertes. The only apparent purpose of the BBM administration is to use the impeachment proceedings to throw stains at the integrity of VP Sara, and weaken her moral fitness for 2028.

To me, what matters most is that evidence should be known and the people should decide based on what’s true, right, and just. If they vote for Sara after knowing the truth, then God bless the Philippines, again. Filipinos never learn. Well, if they know the real score and still swallow the bitter pill, then, God have mercy on us, again.