In a late Wednesday vote of 19-4-1, senators chose to set aside the Articles of Impeachment transmitted by the House of Representatives in February, following a controversial court ruling that deemed the impeachment proceedings unconstitutional.
While no trial ever began, the Senate had been expected to act as the impeachment court under the constitution.
Legal experts say the trial could still theoretically proceed if the Supreme Court reverses its decision on a pending motion for reconsideration. University of the Philippines law professor Barry Gutierrez said the Senate could then retrieve the articles from the archives and proceed with the trial, though he doubted the high court would risk a “fiercer storm of criticism” by dismissing the motions as moot.
On the other side of the debate, Senate Deputy Minority Leader Vicente Sotto III had a blunter view, telling This Week in Asia that the trial was now “buried” and an archived motion was “a dead motion”.
