BRIEFING PAPER ON THE IMPEACHMENT PROCESS
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I. Definition

Impeachment is the legal process provided by the 1987 Philippine Constitution to check against abuse of power and commission of offenses by high officials of the country who may not be removed from office through any other means.

As understood the world over, impeachment refers to the process by which a legislative body formally levels charges against a high official of the government. Impeachment does not necessarily mean removal from office. It is only a formal statement of charges, which is akin to an indictment in criminal law. It is, therefore, only the first step towards removal from office.

Once a public official is impeached, he or she must then face trial before the Senate and the possibility of conviction by means of a legislative vote.

In case of conviction, he or she is then removed from office.

II. Relevant Constitutional Provisions
Article XI - Accountability Of Public Officers

Section 2. The President, the Vice-President, the Members of the Supreme Court, the Members of the Constitutional Commissions, and the Ombudsman may be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, culpable violation of the Constitution, treason, bribery, graft and corruption, other high crimes, or betrayal of public trust. All other public officers and employees may be removed from office as provided by law, but not by impeachment.

Section 3.

1. The House of Representatives shall have the exclusive power to initiate all cases of impeachment.

2. A verified complaint for impeachment may be filed by any Member of the House of Representatives or by any citizen upon a resolution or endorsement by any Member thereof, which shall be included in the Order of Business within ten session days, and referred to the proper Committee within three session days thereafter. The Committee, after hearing, and by a majority vote of all its Members, shall submit its report to the House within sixty session days from such referral, together with the corresponding resolution. The resolution shall be calendared for consideration by the House within ten session days from receipt thereof.

3. A vote of at least one-third of all the Members of the House shall be necessary either to affirm a favorable resolution with the Articles of Impeachment of the Committee, or override its contrary resolution. The vote of each Member shall be recorded.

4. In case the verified complaint or resolution of impeachment is filed by at least one-third of all the Members of the House, the same shall constitute the Articles of Impeachment, and trial by the Senate shall forthwith proceed.

5. No impeachment proceedings shall be initiated against the same official more than once within a period of one year.

6. The Senate shall have the sole power to try and decide all cases of impeachment. When sitting for that purpose, the Senators shall be on oath or affirmation. When the President of the Philippines is on trial, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court shall preside, but shall not vote. No person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of all the Members of the Senate.

7. Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than removal from office and disqualification to hold any office under the Republic of the Philippines, but the party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to prosecution, trial, and punishment, according to law.

8. The Congress shall promulgate its rules on impeachment to effectively carry out the purpose of this section.

III. Nature

Impeachment has the elements of a criminal process but it is basically a political process designed to deal with the misconduct by high public officers. The political aspect of this process arises from the fact that the principal players, particularly the senator-judges and representative-prosecutors, are not ordinary citizens appointed as judges or prosecutors but rather are elected officials who serve by virtue of the fact that they were elected to their legislative positions.

The offenses that are grounds for impeachment are, in nature, political offenses as differentiated from criminal offenses. The subject of impeachment are "those which proceed from the misconduct of public men, or, in other words, from the abuse or violation of some public trust. They are of a nature which may with peculiar propriety be denominated political, as they relate chiefly to injuries done immediately to the society itself.”

IV. Outline

In the ordinary course, an impeachment complaint shall undergo the following steps or stages:

a. Initiation of Impeachment

A verified complaint for impeachment may be filed by any member of the House of Representatives or by any citizen upon endorsement by any member of the House.

b. Finding of Probable Cause

The Committee on Justice investigates and hears the impeachment complaint. The Committee shall render a Committee Report, which must be approved by at least 1/3 of all the members of the House of Representatives before it goes to the Senate for trial.

c. Trial

The Senate shall try the impeachment case and shall have the sole power to try and decide all cases of impeachment. No person shall be convicted without the concurrence of 2/3 of all the Members of the Senate

Direct Resolution

However, when a verified complaint or resolution of impeachment is filed by at least one-third of all the Members of the House, the same shall constitute the Articles of Impeachment, and trial by the Senate shall forthwith proceed.

V. Impeachable Officers

The following are the government officials who may be the subject of impeachment:

a. The President
b. The Vice-President
c. Members of the Supreme Court
d. Members of the Constitutional Commissions; and
e. The Ombudsman

All other public officers and employees may be removed from office as provided by law, but not by impeachment.

By necessary implication, the list of impeachable officers is exclusive and may neither be increased nor reduced by the legislature.

VI. Grounds for Impeachment

Under Article XI, Section 2 of the 1987 Constitution, the following are the grounds for impeachment:

a. Culpable violation of the Constitution

According retired Supreme Court Justice Isagani A. Cruz in his book Philippine Political Law, culpable violation of the Constitution means "wrongful, intentional or willful disregard or flouting of the fundamental law." Justice Cruz adds that mere mistake in understanding or interpreting the Constitution cannot be covered by this ground.

b. Treason

Treason is committed by any person who, owing allegiance to the Government of the Philippines, not being a foreigner, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid or comfort within the Philippines or elsewhere.

c. Bribery

Bribery as an impeachable offense may either be Direct Bribery or Indirect Bribery.

Direct bribery is committed by any public officer who shall agree to perform an act constituting a crime, in connection with the performance of this official duties, in consideration of any offer, promise, gift or present received by such officer, personally or through the mediation of another.

If the object for which the gift was received or promised was to make the public officer refrain from doing something which it was his official duty to do.

Indirect bribery is committed by a public officer when he accept gifts offered to him by reason of his office.

d. Graft and Corruption

Offenses of graft and corruption are actually covered by Republic Act No. 3019, otherwise as the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. Hence, by necessary implication, violation of any of the provisions of said law may constitute a ground for impeachment.

e. Other high crimes or Betrayal of Public Trust

There are as yet no exact legal definitions of the terms "other high crimes” and “betrayal of public trust" as grounds for impeachment. The apparent intent of the framers of the Constitution was to leave the task of defining these grounds in the hands of the legislators. Thus, it is said that because of this, the matter of the impeachment of an impeachable officer under these grounds enters the realm of a matter of political judgment rather than a matter of judicial determination.

Hence, what constitutes “other high crimes” and “betrayal of public trust” as depends on the determination of the required number of the members of the House of Representatives considers it to be a given moment in history.

Similarly, in an impeachment trial, it would be left to the required number of Senators as judges to decide whether or not the alleged acts of an impeachable officer actually constitutes the grounds of “other high crimes” and “betrayal of public trust” as provided in the 1987 Constitution.

A number of law book authors have expressed their own opinions on the definition of these terms.

Retired Supreme Court Justice Isagani A. Cruz, in his book Philippine Political Law, citing a report of the special committee of the House of Representatives that investigated the impeachment charges against former President Elpidio Quirino in 1949, opined that "other high crimes" have been interpreted as those offenses which, like treason and bribery, are so serious in nature as to affect the orderly workings of the government.

Justice Cruz says that "betrayal of public trust" is a catch-all ground which would make any act unbecoming of a public official, such as abuse of authority or neglect of duty, an impeachable offense even though such acts aren't crimes.

According to another law book author, “betrayal of public trust” is a new ground for impeachment, which covers any violation of the oath of office involving loss of popular support even if the violation may not amount to a punishable offense.

VII. General Procedure

The Constitution sets forth the general principles governing the procedural aspects of impeachment. It also grants the Congress to promulgate its rules on impeachment.

The House of Representatives have the exclusive power to initiate all cases of impeachment.

A verified complaint for impeachment may be filed by any Member of the House of Representatives or by any citizen upon a resolution or endorsement by any Member of the House of Representatives.

Impeachment proceedings can begin with an inquiry of impeachment resolution or with a direct resolution.

In an inquiry of impeachment resolution, after the filing of the verified complaint, the same shall be included in the Order of Business of the House of Representatives within ten session days, and referred to the Judiciary Committee within three session days thereafter.

The House Judiciary Committee then holds hearings and investigates the charges.

The Committee, after hearing, and by a majority vote of all its Members, shall submit its report to the House within sixty session days from such referral, together with the corresponding resolution. The resolution shall be calendared for consideration by the House within ten session days from receipt thereof.

A vote of at least one-third of all the Members of the House shall be necessary either to affirm a favorable resolution with the Articles of Impeachment of the Committee, or override its contrary resolution. The vote of each Member shall be recorded.

The Articles of Impeachment is the document containing the written accusations, which state the offenses charged against the impeachable officer and on the basis of which he or she will be tried by the Senators, sitting as Judges in the impeachment trial. It is akin to the Information in a criminal case.

In a direct resolution, verified complaint or resolution of impeachment is filed by at least one-third of all the Members of the House, the same shall constitute the Articles of Impeachment.

The Articles of Impeachment is then sent to the Senate for trial. The Senate has the sole power to try and decide all cases of impeachment.

According to the precedent set in the impeachment case of former President Joseph “Erap” Ejercito Estrada, the members of House of Representatives designated by the House shall act as prosecutors. Private lawyers designated by the House may also be employed to assists the representatives-prosecutors as private prosecutors.

The members of the Senate will act as the judges and shall be under oath or affirmation to act as such. When the President of the Philippines is on trial, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court shall preside, but shall not vote.

The Senate then votes in open session on each Article of Impeachment. No person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of all the Members of the Senate.

VIII. Applicable Rules of Procedure

The relevant constitutional provisions on Impeachment may be found under Article XI, Sections 2 & 3 (1) to (8) of the 1987 Philippine Constitution.

Congress shall promulgate its rules on impeachment to effectively carry out the purpose of this section. Pursuant hereto, the House of Representatives and the Senate have, at various times, adopted their own rules of procedure to govern impeachment cases brought before them.

Enclosed is the Rules of Procedure On Impeachment Trials In the Philippine Senate adopted by the Philippine Senate pursuant to Senate Resolution No. 39 on 23 March 2011.

Also enclosed is the latest Rules of Procedure in Impeachment Proceedings adopted by the House of Representatives during the 15th Congress on August 3, 2010.

Because of the nature of impeachment proceedings as a criminal process and by express provision of the Rules of Procedure in Impeachment Proceedings of the House of Representatives, the Rules of Criminal Procedure of the Rules of Court shall, as practicable, apply to impeachment proceedings in the House.

Likewise, by express provision of the Rules of Procedure On Impeachment Trials In the Philippine Senate, the Rules of Court shall apply insofar as they are applicable. Rules of Evidence and procedures shall be liberally construed.