As pointed out by Facebook page “Oras Na, Roxas Na” supporting Mar Roxas, de Lima cannot be impeached.
“Nananawagan ng “Impeach De Lima” ang mga fanatics ni Duterte. Isang senador po si Leila de Lima at hindi isang impeachable public officer. Mahirap maging tanga,” the page wrote.
As it turned out, this is what the 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines said.
This is what Section 2 of Article XI has to say on the topic:
”Section 2. The President, the Vice-President, the Members of the Supreme Court, the Members of the Constitutional Commissions, and the Ombudsman may be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, culpable violation of the Constitution, treason, bribery, graft and corruption, other high crimes, or betrayal of public trust. All other public officers and employees may be removed from office as provided by law, but not by impeachment.”
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For clarifications on what the Constitutional Commissions are that were mentioned in the paragraph above, these refer to the Commission on Elections, Civil Service Commission, and the Commission on Audit.
Note that in Section 2, Senators of the Philippines were not mentioned, which means that they cannot be impeached. Hence, de Lima cannot be impeached as well, although she can be relieved of her post through other lawful means.
According to the law, government officials that are not impeachable can be removed from office through various means. Those who are working in the executive department may be dismissed from office by the president. Members of Congress can be relieved from their seat by two-thirds vote of the chamber the member belongs to. Local elective officials can be ousted from office through recall.
No matter how much some netizens campaign for de Lima’s impeachment on social media, it would be to no avail because she is not an impeachable official.
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