• Office of Minority Leader Edcel C. Lagman
• 0916-6406737 / 0918-9120137
• Official Website: http://www.edcellagman.com.ph
• 19 April 2011

PNOY ENTICES SENATORS

TO DO A PONTIUS PILATE

          The trial by publicity and conviction through campus speeches being waged by President Aquino for the ouster of Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez directly influence and demean the discretion and judgment of Senators who are inveigled to act like Pontius Pilates to subject their decision to the vagaries of public opinion.

           By actively, publicly and incessantly campaigning for the impeachment of the Ombudsman, President Aquino has violated the Constitution which exclusively reserves to and vests on Congress the power to impeach and convict impeachable officials.

           Under Article XI of the Constitution, the “House of Representatives shall have the exclusive power to initiate all cases of impeachment” [Section 3 (1)], while the “Senate shall have the sole power to try and decide all cases of impeachment” [Section 3 (6)].

           The President has no constitutional role in impeachment proceedings. In fact, under Section 19 of Article VII the President is expressly prohibited from granting reprieves, commutations and pardons in cases of impeachment.

           The President has invaded the exclusive prerogative of the House of Representatives when he marshaled the forces of his Liberal Party to impeach the Ombudsman.

           The continuing campaign of the President to oust the Ombudsman infringes on the sole power of the Senate to adjudicate the impeachment case against the respondent Ombudsman.

           Galvanizing public opinion for the conviction of the Ombudsman intrudes on the constitutional authority of Senators to solely judge the culpability or lack of culpability of the Ombudsman.

           The President must desist from culpable violation of the Constitution in his merciless penchant to oust the Ombudsman.