Estrada is fourth Philippine leader to face impeachment

November 13, 2000
Web posted at: 10:14 AM HKT (0214 GMT)

MANILA, Philippines (Reuters) -- Joseph Estrada, accused of taking bribes from illegal gambling syndicates, is the fourth Philippine president to be threatened with impeachment in the country's turbulent political history.

Impeachment actions launched against three other presidents -- Ferdinand Marcos, president from 1966-86, Diosdado Macapagal (1961-65) and Elpidio Quirino (1949-1953) -- all failed.

Estrada is facing four charges in an impeachment resolution filed him against in the House of Representatives -- bribery, graft and corrupt practices, betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the constitution.

One-third of the 218-member lower house -- or 73 congressmen -- must approve the resolution for Estrada to be impeached and the case sent to the Senate for trial.

He says he is innocent and is confident of clearing his name in any Senate trial.

If it approves the resolution, the Lower House will designate 11 of its members to act as "prosecutors" in the Senate trial.

Since the president is on trial, the chief justice of the Supreme Court will preside, but he will have no voting powers.

There is no time limit for the trial to be completed. One senator said it could last a month, another said several months.

"We cannot say how long because we do not know how much evidence will be presented by the Lower House and we don't know how long is the defence that the President will put up," Senate President Franklin Drilon said.

The constitution requires a two-thirds vote "of all the members of the Senate" for a president to be convicted and removed from office.

The Senate has 24 seats, but only 22 are filled, the other two being vacant. The two vacancies can be filled only in the congressional elections in May next year. They cannot be filled by appointments.

Senators say they have not determined whether to use 24 or 22 as the basis in deciding how many votes two-thirds would consist of. If they decide on 22, 15 votes are required to convict a president. If they decide the basis should be 24, two-thirds would mean 16 votes.

"It is an unsettled legal question," Drilon said.

The vice-president is first in line of succession and automatically takes over the presidency once the president is removed from office.

If convicted, the president is disqualified from holding any public office. He is also liable to be prosecuted before the courts for any crime he may have committed while in office.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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