Op-ed: Judicial impeachment case in the Philippines has significant constitutional ramifications

The impeachment complaint against Justice Mario Victor Leonen has significant constitutional ramifications that may disrupt the finely crafted check-and-balance mechanism embedded in the 1987 Constitution. First, the Supreme Court has already ruled that the 24-month period in the Constitution for its Justices to decide cases is directory and not mandatory. The Supreme Court issued this ruling in the exercise of its constitutional power as the final interpreter of the Constitution. If the House of Representatives interprets the 24-month period as mandatory, then the House will be usurping the power of the Supreme Court as the final interpreter of the Constitution. The interpretation of the House will make Justices of the Supreme Court an endangered species as more than a majority of them are not compliant with the 24-month period.
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