Impeachment

          Impeachment is a formal process in which an official is accused of unlawful activity, the outcome of which, depending on the country, may include the removal of that official from office as well as other punishment.
          In Philippines, Impeachment is an expressed power of the Congress of the Philippines to formally charge a serving government official with an impeachable offense. After being impeached by the House of Representatives, the official is then tried in the Senate. If convicted, the official is either removed from office or censured.
          As of now, there were only three impeached officials in the Philippines: Joseph Estrada, 13th president of the Philippines, but the trial aborted, Merceditas Gutierrez, Ombudsman, resigned prior to trial, and Renato Corona, 23rd Chief Justice, to be decided.
        On May 12, 2010, two days after the 2010 elections and a month before Arroyo's term expired, Renato Corona was appointed the 23rd Chief Justice of the Philippines, succeeding Reynato Puno who had reached the mandatory age of retirement.
      December   12, 2011, 188 members of the House of Representatives signed an impeachment complaint against Corona. As only 95 signatures were necessary for the impeachment of Corona by the House of Representatives under the Constitution, the impeachment complaint was to be transmitted to the Senate for trial.
        Other officials can be removed from offices but not by impeachment: those under the executive department may be dismissed by the president; members of Congress can be expelled by two-thirds vote of the chamber the member is a part of; local elected officials can be removed from office through recall.
          In the 1935 and 1973 constitutions, the President, the Vice President, the Justices of the Supreme Court, and the Auditor General were the impeachable officials.

Posted in: Impeachment