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DIPLOMATIC POUCH

- MARIE FONTANEL

The issue of whether there should be an impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte has strangely and unexpectedly become a controversial topic. When the House of Representatives overwhelmingly voted to impeach Sara Duterte, it was generally assumed that the Senate would hold a trial. The topic of discussion at that time was whether there would be sufficient numbers in the Senate to convict her. Suddenly, we find ourselves in the middle of a divisive debate on whether there should even be a trial.

For several constitutionalists like Christian Monsod, senators have no power to dismiss the impeachment complaint. Monsod was a member of the Constitutional Commission that drafted the 1987 Constitution. One of the most revealing statements comes from the UP Law Faculty, which laid out a very convincing manifesto for the continuance of the impeachment trial. The UP lawyers also rightfully pointed out that a dismissal of the trial by the Senate would be an abdication of its constitutional role in impeachment.

It is time for the public to raise its voice and let the senators hear their disgust at the political maneuverings that are going on. This blatant disregard for the Constitution is what has led to the Filipino people having lost their faith in our political institutions. In a recent survey, 88 percent of the Filipino people want the trial to go through. If the trial is delayed or allowed not to go through, this will forever be a black mark on the image of the Philippine Senate as an independent body that places the nation's welfare and the rule of law above selfish personal and political interests.