Manila: The Senate impeachment court has enlisted three former chief justices and a framer of the 1987 Constitution to help settle the disputed voting base for the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte. Impeachment court spokesperson Reginald Tongol announced Thursday that retired chief justices Artemio Panganiban and Reynato Puno, along with retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Adolfo Azcuna, have formally agreed to appear before the senator-judges on Sept. 16 as amici curiae, or friends of the court. Former chief justice Hilario Davide Jr., who presided over the impeachment trial of former president Joseph Estrada, will also participate through a legal memorandum instead of a physical appearance.
According to Philippines News Agency, the four jurists will advise the court on Senator-judge Erwin Tulfo's appeal questioning how the constitutional requirement of two-thirds of 'all the Members of the Senate' should be applied if some senator-judges cannot participate in the final vote. Presiding officer Francis Escudero earlier ruled that conviction would require a 'hard 16,' or two-thirds of the full 24-member Senate. Tulfo has maintained that he is not asking the court to lower the threshold, but wants a definitive ruling on who should form the voting base if some members are abroad, detained, in hiding, or otherwise unable to participate.
Azcuna's participation gives the Sept. 16 proceedings a direct link to the drafting of the provision under scrutiny. He was a member of the 1986 Constitutional Commission that drafted the present Constitution before later serving as an associate justice of the Supreme Court from 2002 to 2009. Panganiban served as chief justice from December 2005 to December 2006, while Puno succeeded him and headed the high court until May 2010. Davide, meanwhile, brings impeachment experience to the panel after serving as presiding officer during Estrada's 2000-2001 Senate impeachment trial while he was chief justice.
Tongol said senator-judges will have the first review of any written submissions from the amici curiae, while the court will withhold its substantive recommendations until its formal presentation. Only senator-judges will be allowed to question the legal experts on Sept. 16. The prosecution and defense panels will not be allowed to cross-examine them because they are advising the court on legal doctrine rather than testifying as fact witnesses.
The prosecution and Duterte's defense will take their turn on Sept. 23, with each side allotted 15 minutes for oral arguments, followed by questions from the senator-judges. The court will then vote on Tulfo's appeal, with senator-judges given time to explain their votes. 'The Impeachment Court will not rush the resolution of this constitutional threshold. Doctrinal accuracy and constitutional exactitude take precedence over speed,' Tongol said.
