(Editorial)
THE four retired Supreme Court justices serving as amici curiae have affirmed the Senate’s constitutional primacy over the impeachment process, even as they offered differing perspectives on specific legal questions, the House prosecution panel stated Wednesday.
Speaking after the day’s proceedings, House impeachment team spokesperson Ace Barbers emphasized that the collective message from the “friends of the court” reinforces the chamber’s mandate as the final arbiter in these proceedings. “The words of our amici curiae have illuminated the power given by the Constitution to the Senate sitting as an impeachment tribunal,” Barbers said.
The core principle emerging from the presentations is the explicit constitutional grant of “sole power to try and decide all cases of impeachment” to the Senate. “All rules, all authority to conduct proceedings against an impeachable officer rest in the hands of our senator‑judges,” Barbers declared. House prosecutor Rep. Rodge Gutierrez likewise noted that despite variations in legal reasoning, all four justices converged on the point that the Senate — not any external body — is the proper authority to resolve the contested conviction threshold. “At the end of the day, they are the Supreme Court in this matter,” Gutierrez observed.
Retired Chief Justice Reynato Puno underscored that the Senate’s authority flows directly from Article XI of the Constitution on public accountability, placing it outside the purview of the judicial branch under Article VIII. This distinction means the impeachment court is free to interpret its own rules and standards independently. Even so, the justices acknowledged boundaries: Puno clarified that judicial review by the Supreme Court remains possible in instances of alleged grave abuse of discretion or clear constitutional violations.
The Senate impeachment court is currently revisiting Presiding Officer Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero’s earlier ruling that required 16 votes — two‑thirds of the full 24‑member body — to convict Vice President Sara Duterte. Oral arguments between the prosecution and defense on the threshold issue are scheduled for September 23, with the senator‑judges then set to deliberate and cast their votes on the standard that will govern the final judgment.
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