“No impeachment proceedings shall be initiated against the same official more than once within a period of one year.”
— Section 3(5), Article XI “Accountability of Public Officers,” Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines
 

THE above section of the Philippine Constitution provides that only one impeachment proceeding shall be initiated against the same official within a period of one year, yet in spite of the above constitutional provision, three lawyers who are familiar with the above provision, filed three separate impeachment complaints against President Gloria M. Arroyo.

Under Section 3(1) of Article XI, the House of Representatives shall have the exclusive power to initiate all cases of impeachment, while Section 3(2) of the same article requires the filing of a verified complaint by any Member of the House of Representatives or by any citizen upon a resolution of endorsement by any Member thereof.

The first impeachment complaint against President Arroyo was filed by lawyer Oliver Lozano and endorsed by Congressman Rodante Marcoleta of the party-list group of Alagad.

The second complaint was filed by another lawyer, Jose Lopez of Manila, while the third complaint was filed by opposition lawmakers as an amended complaint to the original petition of Lozano.

All three complaints were referred to the Justice Committee of the House of Representatives. However, with the walkout of Members of the opposition, all three impeachment complaints were dismissed by the Justice Committee.

The second and third complaints were dismissed for violating Section 3(5) of Article XI.

The original complaint filed by Lozano was considered separate from the amended complaint filed by opposition lawmakers and was declared by the Justice Committee as sufficient in form but insufficient in substance.

Section 3(2) of Article XI further provides that the Justice Committee after hearing, and by a majority vote of all Members, shall submit to the House within 60 days from such referral, together with the corresponding resolution.

The resolution shall be calendared for consideration by the House within 10 session days from receipt thereof.

Subsection (3) of Section 3, Article XI requires the vote of at least one-third of all Members of the House either to affirm a favorable resolution with the Articles of Impeachment of the Committee or override its contrary resolution.

The opposition lawmakers have to gather 79 signatures of the Members of the House in order to elevate the impeachment complaint for trial by the Senate of the Philippines.

Failure by the opposition lawmakers to secure 79 congressmen to endorse the original Lozano complaint or to secure the required vote of at least one-third of all the Members of the House overriding the adverse ruling of the Justice Committee would mean the termination of the impeachment proceeding against President Arroyo this year.

All is not lost in the quest of the opposition lawmakers to dislodge President Arroyo from the presidency.

Subsection (5) of Section 3, Article XI allows the initiation of impeachment proceeding against the same official every year.

Will the dismissal of the three impeachment complaints and the possible inability of the opposition to gather 79 congressmen to endorse the original Lozano complaint signal the end of the political crisis gripping the country?

Sen. Ralph Recto has the following dire prediction:

“Do you think it will go away? No, impeachment is here to stay. It will be resurrected annually. Impeachment is the genie that can’t be lured back inside the bottle.”