(Committee on Justice, House of Representatives, 15 May 2017)

Mr. Chairman, may I make a statement in order to underscore the proper anchorage and orientation of impeachment proceedings.

While it is correct that an impeachment proceeding is a political exercise, it is however, impressed with judicial character. This is the reason why we have a verified complaint; a complainant; a respondent; determination of sufficiency in form and substance; and if necessary, determination of probable cause to impeach the respondent. In the impeachment trial, select Members of the House of Representatives act as Prosecutors and the Senators seat as a court in the role of Senator-Judges.

It is also because of the judicial nature of the impeachment proceedings that the Constitution mandates that the proper committee or, in this case, the Committee on Justice, must conduct a hearing.

Section 3(2) of Article XI of the Constitution on Accountability of Public Officers unequivocally provides: “The Committee, after hearing, and by a majority vote of all its Members, shall submit its report to the House within sixty working days from such referral, together with the corresponding resolution.” No report can be submitted to the plenary on the dismissal or upholding of the complaint without prior hearing.

The hearing envisioned by the Constitution partakes of two phases: first, a preliminary hearing on the sufficiency of form and of substance of the complaint; and second, a full blown hearing to determine the absence or existence of probable cause to impeach the respondent, after finding that the complaint is sufficient in form and substance.

Accordingly, I beseech the Honorable Members of the Committee on Justice to afford the complainant, the Hon. Gary Alejano, the opportunity to be heard and the chance to adduce his arguments on why his complaint for impeachment is sufficient in form and in substance, and as far as substance in concerned, why it satisfies the minimum standard provided for by the House Rules on Impeachment that “requirement of substance is met if there is a recital of facts constituting the offense charged and determinative of the jurisdiction of the committee.”

Again, while it is true that an impeachment proceeding is a political exercise, it is not a partisan enterprise. A political process entails an exercise of values, advocacies and judiciousness. Partisanship is the direct opposite. It is the blind adherence to the dictates of a party or an aggrupation. It is an injudicious allegiance to a figure or a group.

Mr. Chairman, Representative Gary Alejano deserves to be heard and the Committee on Justice, as well as the Filipino public, are entitled to hear the Complainant in the instant impeachment proceeding.

Thank you.

EDCEL C. LAGMAN