EVEN WHILE PRESIDENT Marcos staunchly distances himself from the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte, his seasoned senior legal adviser, Juan Ponce Enrile, once a Senate president for the longest time, spoke on his views about the Senate’s handling of the impeachment process.
Enrile, who served four terms in the Senate, or for 22 years, one of the longest in the history of the upper chamber, and Senate President during the impeachment trial of Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona, said in an interview with Inquirer that he is not aware if the Senate rules on impeachment has been changed to allow such an impasse.
“If not then, the Senate failed to do its job,” he said citing that when he was at the Senate, they quickly tackled the impeachment articles sent to them, as the 1987 Constitution states that the trial must proceed forthwith if ⅓ of the House members file an impeachment complaint.”
He said with 215 lawmakers filing the impeachment last February 5, or over the ⅓ requirement achieved, then the Senate is supposed to do its job with reasonable speed. But the Senate tarried and dilly dallied.
Enrile says he personally thinks that Sara Duterte does not want to face impeachment trial.
‘Enrile says he personally thinks that Sara Duterte does not want to face impeachment trial … What is worse, … the Senate turned it back or remanded the case to the House, which is improper and unparliamentary.’
UNPARLIAMENTARY
What is worse, Enrile said, the Senate turned it back or remanded the case to the House, “which is improper and unparliamentary. You must give a presumption of regularity to the other house, you cannot demand or command the other house which is your co-equal.”
Enrile — who participated in the impeachment trial of former president Joseph Estrada as a senator-judge, and then as presiding officer in the trial of former Chief Justice Renato Corona — said that the delay in the impeachment proceedings and the remand of articles is without precedence, the Inquirer reported.
During the trial of former president Joseph Estrada, the complaint filed by the House before the Senate was forwarded to the Senate committee on rules, calendared for first reading, before being sent back to the committee so that senator-judges can formulate rules and conduct preliminary processes in preparation for the hearing.
Enrile said what the Senate did under the leadership of Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero was unheard of. “We never had the experience or precedent like what they have done now to return the impeachment complaints to the impeaching authority which is the House of Representatives.”
AN ODD MOVE
The report submitted by the committee on rules were then referred back to the plenary for second reading and “at that point, the notices have been sent out to the prosecutors, to the person impeached, to his lawyers, and then in the case of Erap (Estrada), to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court,” Enrile explained.
The current Senate, using the Corona case as precedent, should have brought the articles to the plenary for hearing and while there were gaps in the hearings, the trial went on.
After VP Duterte was impeached last February 5, the House forwarded the impeachment articles to the Senate. But the trial did not start immediately as the articles were not taken up during the Senate plenary session before the 19th Congress adjourned for the midterm election break. February 5 was the last session day of both chambers.
On May 23, SP Francis Escudero sent a letter to House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez inviting the House prosecution panel to the Senate plenary on June 2, to present the articles of impeachment. He promised to convene the Senate as an impeachment court on June 3, which did not materialize until June 11. But even before the prosecution team visited the Senate, a resolution was filed by reelected Sen. Bato de la Rosa dismissing the case altogether.
When the Senate finally convened on June 10 as an impeachment court, the 18 senator judges voted in favor of the motion of Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano to remand the articles back to the House, which Enrile found rather odd.
TO CLARIFY ISSUES
Until the prosecutors’ questions are addressed, Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro said the House would delay accepting the articles not out of defiance to the Senate order but to clarify possible issues.
The articles dwell on issues like allegations of confidential fund misuse within her offices which were uncovered during the hearing of the House committee on good government and public accountability, and threats to have President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and Romualdez assassinated.
At this juncture, Enrile has this simple message to the impeachment court judges: “my first advice is to keep quiet and then go to the session hall during their trial, sit down and listen to the proceedings, listen to the presentation of evidence.”