Upon Filing Of Case With Sandiganbayan
A professor of the Ateneo School of Law has submitted the position that Senators and Congressmen who will be charged with plunder before the Sandiganbayan shall be immediately suspended.
Lawyer Mel Sta. Maria’s view is backed by Republic Act 7080 or the “Act Defining and Penalizing the Act of Plunder” and contradicts the earlier position adopted by Senate President Franklin Drilon.
Drilon, a former justice secretary, has said that unless the Senators are convicted, the Senate could not take disciplinary action against them or suspend them.
Here is the post made by Sta. Maria in InterAksyon.com, the online news portal of TV5:
“To suspend or not to suspend? That is the question asked by many in the event that the plunder cases against the implicated senators and congressmen are eventually filed with the Sandiganbayan after the proceedings in the Office of the Ombudsman.
“There is no dispute as to the answer.
“These senators and representatives must be suspended. The House of Representatives and the Senate have no discretion to even deliberate the merits of whether to suspend or not. The suspension applies by operation of law. Republic Act No. 7080, known as the “Act Defining and Penalizing the Act of Plunder”, unequivocally provides:
“Section 5. Suspension and Loss of Benefits – Any public officer against whom any criminal prosecution under a valid information under this Act in whatever stage of execution and mode of participation, is pending in court, shall be suspended from office. Should he be convicted by final judgment, he shall lose all retirement or gratuity benefits under any law, but if he is acquitted, he shall be entitled to reinstatement and to the salaries and other benefits which he failed to receive during suspension, unless in the meantime, administrative proceedings have been filed against him.
“Once the crimimal case is filed with the Sandiganbayan, the only act which Congress as a body must perform is to notify the implicated senators and representatives that they have no more right or business performing their functions as senators or representatives of the Republic during the pendency of the case. Suspension must be done immediately.
“The plunder law provides that these senators and representative “shall be suspended”.
“The word “shall” connotes a clear command that must be obeyed, a duty that must be performed, an imperative that leaves absolutely no room for the exercise of discretion. If the law is to be truly honored, it simply must be implemented even against these officials in the halls of Congress. They are not above the law.
“If they are indeed law-abiding as they claim, the implicated senators and representatives must not even wait for any formal suspension-notification from Congress. They ought and should know what to legally do. They must obey the law. At the very least and as matter of decency and delicadeza, they should spare their colleagues in Congress from ordering their suspension. They must make a unilateral declaration recognizing their suspension and, posthaste, act on it. At that moment, that is the most honorable thing to do.
“Section 16 (3) of Article 6 of the Constitution provides that “each House may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds of all its Members, suspend or expel a Member.”
“Some of our legislators make an argument that, by virtue of the said constitutional provision they, as members of one of the three great branches of government, may still determine whether suspension should be made. This argument does not even merit serious consideration. Our legislators must understand that, in one very important case, they have already pre-determined the penalty of suspension for implicated members pursuant to the said constitutional mandate. And this is the case punished under our Plunder Law which they themselves previously legislated. Nothing is clearer than that. Hence, the assertion of the doctrine of the independence of the three great branches of government – the executive, judiciary and the legislature – is clearly out-of place and betrays a shallow understanding of our Constitution and our laws.
“Ultimatley, however, the underlying reason for immediate suspension once a case is filed with the Sandiganbayan is so fundamental. Our Constitution provides that “sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority emanates from them.” In a criminal case, The People of the Philippines – not the whistleblowers, the NBI, the DOJ nor any private individual – will be the plaintiffs in the case. Therefore, the people who voted for these implicated officials desire that the implicated officials be ousted from their high-office and consequently jailed for raiding the coffers of the government. Given this, these implicated senators and representatives must not, in the meantime, act for and on behalf of the sovereign people who earnestly seek their imprisonment for life.
“I must agree with Secretary of Justice De Lima that the filing of the plunder cases is historic if only for the reason that included as respondents are high-profile senators and representatives of Congress. But this moment in history will be judged by its ultimate outcome. Just like in the impeachment case of former Chief Justice Corona, the people now must now be vigilant and patient. They must keenly observe and express their opinions on the proceedings continuously. Let due process lead up to its ultimate conclusion … which, by the way, may not necessarily mean conviction.”
(Atty. Mel Sta. Maria teaches at the Ateneo School of Law and is the resident legal analyst of TV5. He is also author of ‘Read My Mind’, a compilation of his works and writings for InterAksyon.com and Radyo Singko 92.3 News FM, where he co-hosts the daily program, ‘Relasyon’.)
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