THERE’S TOO MUCH noise in the timing and conduct of Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial by the Senate, which to people is long overdue but which Senate President Chiz Escudero would rather subject it to a vote, if the body should proceed this month or leave the matter to the upcoming 20th Congress. (This new stance is being seen as Escudero playing safe so as not to get the ire of Sara, if acquitted, and guns for the 2028 presidential race).
Frustrations have been raised by people and by members of the House of Representatives, which diligently worked on impeaching her but the final say now rests in the Upper Chamber, which continued to drag its feet by simply disregarding the Constitutional order of “holding the trial forthwith, (in layman’s term meaning immediately).”
As House Deputy Majority Leader and Iloilo Rep. Lorenz Defensor said: the Senate should not abandon its constitutional mandate and must proceed with the impeachment trial of VP Duterte.Pause
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The impeachment is a critical mechanism for holding high-ranking officials accountable for serious offenses and its abandonment by the Senate of its duty to exact accountability would set a bad example to the young and future leaders of our country, Defensor said.
DRIBBLING TACTICS
All eyes are now focused on Chiz and the other senators if they would kill the impeachment plot or not, as incoming Liberal partylist Rep. Leila de Lima (who as a senator was jailed by Sara’s father, former President Duterte).
De Lima deplored the dribbling and dilatory tactics in the Senate to derail the momentum of the impeachment case against Sara saying the “public will not be fooled.”
She said there’s no reason for Escudero to study the impeachment case since the Senate’s mandate is clear: Convene as an impeachment court with no excuses.
“Let us not kid each other. This is no longer about legal preparedness but about political will,” said De Lima, one of the impeachment prosecutors. Delaying tactics designed to wear out the public and slow down the momentum would spare the powerful, she stressed.
But she warned that the public will see through it. People are closely watching what the senators are doing, she said, adding “the Filipino people have seen the show before, you can’t fool them.”
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The truth is at stake in this impeachment trial as she dared the senators to be the stewards of the Constitution, and not be gatekeepers of convenience.”
“When powerful figures are accused of grave abuse, silence is complicity. Delay is betrayal” as she posed “Let the trial begin.”
Escudero refused to convene the impeachment court in February after the House of Representatives transmitted the Articles of Impeachment, and then moved the scheduled reading of the charges from June 2 to June 11, citing priority legislation as an excuse.
Reports claim that he could be shelving the case to court the support of the Duterte bloc for his continued leadership of the chamber. But Escudero denied this saying he could not see any connection between the two issues.
WHATEVER IS PENDING
Similarly Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro said the change in Senate composition should not stop the trial because of incoming Senators on June 30.
Citing the Supreme Court’s rule that Congress is a continuing body “what terminates is the session, but the Congress itself does not end after every session,” she said likening it to a Regional Trial Court with the next judge deciding on whatever is pending before the sala.
This is the same with the impeachment court. If the 19th Congress does not finish it, the 20th Congress could continue the hearing, she said.
A coalition of multisectoral groups, including leaders of the clergy, on Tuesday protested the delay in the trial of VP Duterte June 11 from June 2.
At a press conference, 204 impeachment complainants, religious leaders, and students, artists, members of the Makabayan coalition and other civil society groups issued a joint statement expressing “great alarm” and shared their “outrage over insinuations that the trial will not proceed because of jurisdictional issues.”
“The time for accountability over large-scale corruption is now. Further delays and the termination of the proceedings will be nothing but a win for impunity,” they noted.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros said the delays in the reading of the articles of impeachment are no longer procedural but are obstructions disguised as protocol. She insisted that it’s appropriate for the Senate to immediately start the proceedings four months after the House the impeachment article.
Asked if he was afraid of Duterte, Escudero simply shrugged off talks on his supposed fear which caused delays in the impeachment trial.
“Pain (bait) naman ang tanong na yun. Ginagawa namin kung ano ang trabaho namin. Yung mga ganyang uri ng komentaryo at pain, uulitin ko—dun sa mga ayaw kay VP Sara at pabor sa impeachment, doon sa mga gusto kay VP Sara at tutol sa impeachment—walang bale sa akin yun.”