Impeachment proceedings are a political exercise

This is in reaction to the letter of Romulo Macalintal, “Sereno may go to the SC for relief,” (11/17/17). He was referring to Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno’s right to “cross-examine” the complainant during the hearing before the judicial committee of the House of Representatives to determine the existence of “probable cause.” This is guaranteed by the Constitution, he said.

Under the Rules of Criminal Procedure promulgated by the Supreme Court, a respondent/indictee has no right to cross-examine the complainant or his witnesses during a preliminary investigation to determine the existence of “probable cause.” So the rule is different when the respondent is the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court?

Macalintal perhaps forgot the fact that impeachment proceedings are uncompromisingly a political exercise where Congress can simply ignore, and will most likely disregard, any injunction emanating from any court, including the Supreme Court.

Take the case of ousted Chief Justice Renato Corona. His lawyers were insisting all along that there was “grave abuse of discretion” on the part of the Senate impeachment court whose overwhelming majority convicted their VIP client. They were contemplating an appeal or review by the Supreme Court. At the end of the day, they realized that course of action was futile.

RIMALDO PACIFICO,
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