SEN. Joel Villanueva yesterday said senator-judges must first hear the impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte before a decision can be arrived at with regard to the impeachment trial.
“… The provision of the Constitution is very clear, that our job is to try. And when we’re trying, as an impeachment court, that’s the only time we would decide whether to dismiss or acquit. That is my position,” Villanueva said in a mix of Filipino and English in a press conference after he filed his priority measures for the 20th Congress.
“I don’t know if the provision of the Constitution is still vague to some individuals — the initiation is exclusive to the House of Representatives; trial is exclusive to the Senate. For me, it is very clear. We need to have trial,” he added.
Sen. Ronald dela Rosa earlier moved that the complaint against the Vice President be dismissed due to alleged infirmities as the House could have violated the one-year bar rule when it accepted four impeachment complaints against Duterte.
Dela Rosa’s motion was amended by Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano – for the complaint to be returned to the House without the case being terminated — so the House can issue a certification that it has not violated the one-year bar rule, and that it will pursue the case in the 20th Congress.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros shared Villanueva’s view, saying she is against the so-called rights of senator-judges to decide whether to dismiss the charges without first hearing the case.
“The motion to dismiss … is included in the formal answer ad cautelam of VP Duterte. But I have a different understanding on our roles as senator judges — it is to conduct a trial … And for us to be able to vote whether to convict or acquit, we need to hear the evidence to be presented in each Articles of Impeachment,” she said in mixed Filipino and English..
“Due process requires it. Just because there is a motion to dismiss, we have to vote on it, dismiss, in effect, acquit. It’s the same – we cannot vote to convict without holding a trial,” she said.
As the 20th Congress officially started at 12:01 p.m. yesterday, Hontiveros asked Senate President Francis Escudero to swear in the new 12 senators as impeachment court judges so they will be ready by July 29.
