Macalintal: ‘Can impeachment case be carried over to next Congress?’

Election lawyer Romulo Macalintal  —File photo

MANILA, Philippines — As the Senate is set to convene as a court for the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, a veteran election lawyer on Sunday raised a “jurisdictional issue” on the authority of the 20th Congress to handle the impeachment case.

Atty. Romulo Macalintal raised a legal question as the 19th Congress will adjourn on June 13 and the 20th Congress will convene in July: “Can the impeachment case be carried over to the next Congress?”

“Duterte may argue that since the impeachment complaint remained pending at the end of the 19th Congress, any action on it by the 20th Congress would amount to treating it as a new complaint — thus violating the constitutional one-year ban on filing more than one impeachment complaint against the same official,” Macalintal said in a statement.

READ: New delay in Sara Duterte impeachment trial raises concerns

Macalintal noted that if Duterte challenges the authority of the 20th Congress to handle the impeachment complaint, “the Senate will be compelled to vote on her motion — wherein the results of the voting could effectively reveal whether she has the numbers to block the trial at the outset.”

READ: Next Senate can treat impeach bid ‘as if filed for first time’ – lawyer

Macalintal said that the issue revolves around Section 124, Rule XLIV of the Senate Rules, which states that: “All pending matters and proceedings shall terminate upon the expiration of one Congress, but may be taken up by the succeeding Congress, as if presented for the first time.”

The lawyer also argued that this interpretation casts doubts if the Senate can handle automatic jurisdiction on cases filed before the previous Congress.

If two-thirds of the senators vote to impeach Duterte, she will be removed from her post and will be barred from holding any public office in the future.

Duterte was impeached by the House of Representatives by overwhelmingly 215 votes last February 5. The verified complaint was sent to the Senate on the same day, however, her case remained pending in the 19th Congress.

Senate President Francis Escudero postponed the presentation of Articles of Impeachment against Duterte from June 2, rescheduling it to June 11.

The reading of the Articles of Impeachment would allow the Senate to convene as an impeachment court and tackle the impeachment against Duterte. /cb