Why we need Pia in the Senate: Her piece on the impeachment process

“I confess I have been an admirer of this lady senator, but her latest piece has made me admire her more. Senator Pia, a lawyer from UP, said that impeachment is not a completely political process, otherwise the Constitution would not have included an impeachment trial with the Senate as the trial court… Senator Pia researched on the subject in both US and Philippine settings in coming to her conclusion.”

Why we need Pia in the Senate:

Her piece on the impeachment process

By Efren L. Danao

Sen. Pia Cayetano has issued a scholarly piece on the impeachment process designed to give everybody a clearer understanding of the procedure and the intent of the Constitution. I confess I have been an admirer of this lady senator, but her latest piece has made me admire her more.

Senator Pia, a lawyer from UP, said that impeachment is not a completely political process, otherwise the Constitution would not have included an impeachment trial with the Senate as the trial court.

“Because we sit as a trial court, we are not there to use our personal relations nor our political affiliations. What is required is that we go through the trial, calling witnesses, listening to their testimonies and the cross-examinations. We are even allowed to ask questions (Senate Rules on Impeachement, Sec. XVII). Then as trial judges we are required to weigh the evidence presented and make a decision,” she stressed.

Her comments hew closely to that enunciated earlier by Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile.

“If impeachment is merely political, then all the senators have to do is raise hands on who are for impeachment without conducting any trial,” JPE said, while maintaining that the aim of the trial should be “to provide justice by observing due process, both procedural and substantive.”

Their views run counter to that of Sen. Antonio Trillanes 4th who said that the impeachment trial of Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona should be treated as a political process where the parties are expected to battle for public opinion and political acceptability. Trillanes said he won’t decide based purely on the evidence that the prosecution and defense panels will present but on the basis of what would be best for the country.

Senator Pia researched on the subject in both US and Philippine settings in coming to her conclusion.

Curiously, Trillanes also claimed to have researched on the subject but came out with a different conclusion. She said it is political in some aspects but not in all aspects. He said it is completely political. His explanations revealed his belief that “political” is equivalent to “partisan,” which should not be the case.

Let’s hear again from Senator Pia. She said that a tribunal should be independent, wholly free, disinterested and impartial. She then cited jurisprudence describing impartial judgments as decisions “on the basis of facts and in accordance with the law, without any restrictions, improper influences, inducements, pressures, threats or interferences, direct or indirect, from any quarter or for any reason.”

She cited the opinion of a US lawyer who authored “Impeachment, A Handbook. ” In the book, author Charles Black, Jr., Sterling Professor Emeritus at Yale Law School and adjunct professor of law at Columbia Law School, wrote that the fact that the senators take a separate oath emphasizes that the Senate “whether for this occasion you call it a ‘judicial’ body or not- is taking on quite a different role from its normal legislative one.”

Black further stated: “The fact that the Senate is to ‘try’ all impeachments, not simply vote on them, implies that it takes on the nature of a judicial trial, because the word to ‘try’ is a word used almost invariably in regard to judicial trials.”

“Thus, there is no doubt that when the Senators sit as judges we do so separate from our function as lawmakers. We sit as judges in the impeachment trial and we are required to act with the cold neutrality of a judge, devoid of bias and partialities,” Senator Pia said.

If only a majority of the senator-judges possesses the “cold neutrality” she has mentioned, then there should be no questions about the decisions they would make. Their rulings would then be accepted by all, without need for a “Plan B” by supporters or opponents of the impeachment charges.

The senators and all prosecution and defense lawyers are prohibited from discussing the merits of the case. Beyond them, it is free-for-all. The anti-Corona camp is marshaling all available resources to demonize CJ Corona and add the pressure of “public opinion” to bear on the Senate. The camp of CJ Corona is expected to paint him as a martyr, all because he was appointed by former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

The impeachment trial of CJ Corona that started Monday still has a long way to go. We will all be besieged with claims and counter-claims on the issue. Senator Pia has this advice for citizens who’ll be following the proceedings:”If you expect fairness from your judges, then perhaps the same principle of political neutrality will go along way in helping each other understand the issues without being swayed by personal or political leanings. This will then elevate the discussion and would go a long way to help the Senators focus on the evidence on hand and not on public perception.”