CIVIL society groups yesterday called on the public to launch “mass actions” as a protest to the impeachment court decision to return the Articles of Impeachment to the House of Representatives.
The groups on Monday launched their three-day protest rally in front of the Senate compound in Pasay City to press the Senate to start with the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.
The impeachment court was finally convened on Tuesday, about four months since the Articles of Impeachment was transmitted by the House of Representatives to the Senate. But majority of the senators later on Tuesday voted to return the impeachment complaint to the House.
The protesting groups include Akbayan party list, Tindig Pilipinas, Mamamayang Liberal, Akbayan Youth, Student Council Alliance of the Philippines, Everywoman, SENTRO, Partido ng Manggagawa, religious groups, and families of victims of extrajudicial killings.
They criticized the move of the impeachment court to remand the complaint to the House, saying it was “abandonment of their constitutional mandate.”
“This odious act of the upper chamber is an abandonment of their duties … They disrespected their oaths as the Constitution,” said Rafaela Daviid of the Akbayan party-list group.
She criticized the 18 senator-judges who voted to return the complaint to the House.
“Duwag at masyadong bahag ang buntot ng mga senador (The senator-judges are cowards.) At a time when our people deserve nothing short of a decisive action and courageous leadership from our senators, their cowardice got the better of them,” she said.
She said the 18 “are a clear threat to our people and to our democratic foundations.”
David praised the five senator-judges who voted against the return — Aquilino Pimentel III, Risa Hontiveros, Grace Poe, Sherwin Gatchalian, and Nancy Binay.
“Their outnumbered vote was the principled, correct, and constitutional vote,” she said, adding that the five will eventually see the people supporting their vote.
The Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) expressed concern over the Senate’s decision to remand, saying the trial should proceed to safeguard “our institutions but also to ensure a stable, predictable environment for economic growth.” – With Irma Isip
