Taxpayer asks SC: Define 'forthwith'

If the definition of “forthwith” is not clear enough in the dictionary or in the cacophony of opinions from lawmakers and legal experts, then the Supreme Court (SC) may be able to provide the answer once and for all and end the debate over the scheduling of the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.

- EVELYN MACAIRAN

In a petition for declaratory relief, Las Piñas congressional candidate John Barry Tayam asked the SC to step in and interpret the term “forthwith” as well as determine if the rights of the Vice President were being violated with the months-long wait for her impeachment trial.

Tayam said he filed the petition as a “taxpayer and citizen.”

He cited Article XI Section 3(4) of the 1987 Constitution, which states: “In case the verified complaint or resolution of impeachment is filed by at least one-third of all the Members of the House, the same shall constitute the Articles of Impeachment, and trial by the Senate shall forthwith proceed.”