Impeachment case vs Binay won’t prosper – lawyer

AN impeachment case against Vice President Jejomar Binay over the supposed overpriced construction of several government buildings in Makati will not prosper, a lawyer said Monday.

The former defense lawyer in the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona, Tranquil Salvador, explained that the alleged acts, which were supposed to be used as basis for an impeachment complaint, were committed when he was still mayor of Makati.

“Firstly, none of the alleged acts or violations were committed during his term as Vice President,” Salvador, also a former Law Dean of the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Pasay and former president of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines-Quezon City chapter, said.

He added that with the 2016 election barely a year away, voting to impeach may be affected by political considerations.

“Secondly, while the complaint may be filed by the Member of the House of Representatives or private complainant and endorsed by the Member of the House, the Articles of Impeachment require a vote of 1/3 of the members of the House and considering that the 2016 [presidential] election is just around the corner the voting to impeach may be affected by political considerations/affiliations (impeachment being a political process),” he added.

On the other hand, lawyer Romulo Macalintal said a plot to impeach the Vice President is an indirect admission on the part of the government that he is immune from suit.
Binay already has two plunder complaints pending before the Office of the Ombudsman. Macalintal said impeachable officials are not immune from investigation, thus the Ombudsman can conduct the probe.

Macalintal said when the case is filed with the Sandiganbayan, then that is the “suit” to which the impeachable officer is immune because, if convicted, he would face the danger of being removed from office by judicial action in violation of said constitutional provision that these officials could only be removed from office by impeachment.

“Thus, if it were true that there is a plot to impeach Vice-President Jejomar Binay starting with an alleged investigation being conducted by the Ombudsman to determine if there are grounds to impeach him, then this is a clear proof or admission that Binay is immune from suit,” he said.

Meanwhile, former IBP president Vicente Joyas said the charges connected to the supposed overpricing of several government buildings in Makati does not even fall under the grounds for impeachment.

He said how can there be a betrayal of public trust “when he was re-elected several times and his re-election and election of his son, daughters and wife negated whatever betrayal may be alluded to.”

Apart from Binay, other officials considered impeachable – under Section 2, Article XI of the Philippine Constitution – are the President, members of the Supreme Court, members of constitutional commission and the Ombudsman.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima last week said that the Constitution is not clear and “categorical to what extent they [impeachable officials] may be subject to prosecutorial action without their impeachability being affected.”

“The conventional wisdom among lawyers is that any criminal action against an impeachable official can only go so far as filing an information,” said De Lima.

“But it is still up to the courts, especially the Supreme Court, to categorically decide on whether or not the filing of a criminal charge amounts to a violation of impeachability,” she added.