Impeachment is an antiquated means of ousting a public official, according to Sen. Edgardo J. Angara, who expressed some disenchantment with the ongoing impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona.
“Impeachment is a medieval tool,” said the senator, one of the quieter members of the Senate impeachment court.
“Many countries—even England, where it originated—have already abandoned impeachment as a means of resolving political conflicts because it is already archaic,” he said.
“I wish we had another mode of removing someone like the Chief Justice from office, not by impeachment,” the senator said in an interview at the UP College of Law where he delivered a talk on the role of the law school in the next 100 years.
But he said there was little anyone can do about it as “it’s the law.”
Corona—whose alleged “midnight” appointment by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo remains unacceptable to certain quarters, including President Benigno Aquino III, despite the issue having been settled with finality by the Supreme Court—was impeached by the House of Representatives and is now undergoing trial by the Senate acting as an impeachment court.
Lesson on political science
If convicted on charges of betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution, the Chief Justice faces the prospect of removal and a perpetual ban on holding any government office.
Angara said the impeachment of Corona “in a way is a lesson on political science.”
“When there’s a dispute, it’s usually the judiciary that settles and mediates and resolves conflicts in society, whether it’s civil or criminal or mercantile, or what have you. The arbitrator and arbiter and judge is the judiciary,” he said.
“This is a lesson on how political conflicts are resolved under our system,” he said.
Angara noted how other countries use other ways to eliminate unwanted leaders, from coup d’etat to assassination.
“In Mauritius, for instance, it’s resolved by ordinary process. They will file a case against you and you go through the ordinary process of the court,” he said.
Because of TV
Since it began on Jan. 16, the Corona trial has gripped the nation’s attention, dominating headlines and public discussions, as the prosecution team composed of members of the House of Representatives began presenting its case before the Senate impeachment court.
Asked what he thought of public perceptions of the trial, Angara suggested that certain parties involved may be losing public support.
“But it’s not so much because of the impeachment [trial] but because of TV,” he said.
Without naming names, Angara observed that the live broadcast of the proceedings was apparently seen by some of his colleagues as an opportunity to showboat.
“Here you are surrounded by reporters, on microphone, on live TV, so instead of [explaining] it to you in two words, I explain it to you in 10,” he said.
He agreed that the impeachment trial was showing a less-than-flattering image of lawyers and putting on display what he described as the “highly passionate, highly partisan nature” of Philippine politics.