THE House prosecution panel in the impending impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte yesterday asked the Senate, which will sit as an impeachment court, to compel her to answer allegations against her.
The motion was filed even if the Senate is already expected to order the respondent to reply to the allegations against her once the impeachment court is convened, possibly in July, when the 20th Congress opens session.
Senate President Francis Escudero yesterday said he has yet to see a copy of the House letter asking the Senate to summon Duterte to answer the impeachment complaint which the House transmitted on February 5.
“Will refer it to the Senate legal team and discuss with them tomorrow (Wednesday). We will act on this accordingly and in due course,” Escudero said in a Viber message to reporters.
Escudero has repeatedly said the Senate would not discuss anything about the impeachment complaint while Congress is on recess, which is until June 1. He has released his proposed timeline for the impeachment process, including the issuance of summons on June 4.
Rep. Marcelino Libanan, head of the prosecution team, said the June 4 plan to require the Vice President to respond to the allegations against her is not supported by the Senate’s impeachment rules which, he said, require the respondent to answer within 10 days once a complaint is filed.
The prosecution team filed an “Entry with Motion to Issue Summons” urging the Senate to issue the “writ of summons” to the vice president. The motion seeks to require Duterte to file an answer to the Articles of Impeachment “within a non-extendible period of 10 days from receipt of the writ of summons.”
Libanan, who is duly authorized to sign all pleadings for and on behalf of all the public prosecutors, was accompanied to the Senate by fellow public prosecutor Rep. Ramon Rodrigo Gutierrez (PL, 1-Rider), together with Reps. Paolo Ortega V of La Union and Jefferson Khonghun of Zambales.
The prosecution team’s motion quoted Rule VII of the Senate’s Rules of Procedure on Impeachment Trials, which states, “A writ of summons shall be issued to the person impeached, reciting or incorporating said articles, and notifying him/her to appear before the Senate upon a day and at a place to be fixed by the Senate and named in such writ, and to file his/her answer to said articles of impeachment within a non-extendible period of ten (10) days from receipt thereof.”
“Thus, it behooves the Honorable Impeachment Court to give effect to the constitutional mandate for the instant impeachment case to ‘forthwith proceed’ and issue the writ of summons to respondent Duterte,” it said.
Based on Escudero’s timeline, once regular session resumes on June 2, the Senate will present in the plenary the Articles of Impeachment, convene the impeachment court the following day. From June 14 to 24, the Senate will start to accept pleadings while the pre-trial will be held from June 24 to July 25. Oath-taking of the newly-elected senators as impeachment judges will be on July 29, while the start of the trial proper will be on July 30.
Duterte was officially impeached on February 5 after 215 lawmakers endorsed the verified impeachment complaint filed by the majority bloc, exceeding by 113 signatories the constitutional requirement of one-third of all members of the House of Representatives, which currently has 306 members.
The Articles of Impeachment accuses her of culpable violation of the Constitution, betrayal of public trust, graft and corruption and other high crimes. It was transmitted to the Senate also on February 5. Trial may start in July.
Sara Duterte is in The Hague assisting the defense team of her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte who is being tried by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity.
Based on the timeline earlier released by Escudero, Duterte will be required to answer the complaint on June 4 as the trial proper is set to start possibly on July 30, or two days after the State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and after the incoming 20th Congress opens session.
Escudero has said there is nothing in the 1987 Constitution which states that the Senate should “immediately” convene as an impeachment court upon the transmittal of the Articles of Impeachment. He said the word “forthwith” in the Constitution should mean that the Senate will convene as an impeachment court but it should be “within the bounds of law” as it would be illegal to convene while Congress is on recess.
Libanan, on why the June 4 plan is not supported by the Senate’s impeachment rules, said is a press conference, “So June 4 is not 10 days… So with this motion, hopefully they’ll be able to do it, to require our vice president to answer in a period of 10 days. Otherwise, they (Senate) have to amend their rules on impeachment procedure,” he said in mixed Filipino and English.
Libanan also said the Senate can act on the House prosecution’s motion because senators are working even while Congress is on recess, citing its committee hearing last week on the arrest of the former president last March 11.
“It means, the Senate is also working during the break. So today, we filed this entry with motion to issue summons. What does it mean? First we’re letting them know that the House is ready to work,” he said.
