THE militant Makabayan bloc yesterday urged the public to join protest actions that are meant to pressure the Senate into immediately starting the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, saying the “time for accountability has come.”
“We, the Makabayan bloc in Congress, call on all Filipinos from all walks of life to actively support and participate in activities demanding the immediate commencement of the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte,” outgoing party-list Reps. France Castro (ACT), Arlene Brosas (Gabriela) and Raoul Manuel said in a statement.
The Makabayan bloc said the people “have witnessed enough of VP Duterte’s dangerous rhetoric, abuse of public funds, and blatant disregard for democratic institutions.”
“Her misuse of confidential funds, represent clear violations of her oath of office and an impeachable offense under the Constitution,” said the left-leaning lawmakers, who endorsed the impeachment complaint filed by the group led by the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan).
Senate President Francis Escudero is being accused of deliberately delaying the proceedings to allegedly win the support of the Duterte bloc for his bid to retain his post in the incoming 20th Congress.
The House approved the impeachment complaint on February 5 and transmitted it on the same day to the Senate which will act as an impeachment court. After the transmittal, Escudero said the impeachment process will have to wait until Congress resumes regular sessions on June 2. On May 30, Escudero moved to June 11 from June 2 the presentation of the Articles of Impeachment, which would start the impeachment process.
‘AGAD-AGAD’
The author of the now contentious term “forthwith” in the 1987 Constitution, now-retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Adolf Azcuna, yesterday said it means “agad” or immediately.
In a Facebook post that was subsequently taken down, Azcuna said he was the one who drafted Article XI of the Constitution on the “Accountability of Public Officers,” which include the term “forthwith.”
“It was I who drafted Article XI of the Constitution in the Constitutional Commission. I also wrote the procedural section, including the word ‘forthwith’ referring to the need for the Senate to proceed to trial and it is precisely meant to mean immediately and without unreasonable delay or, in the national language official version, “agad-agad,’” Azcuna said in the post.
He also said it would be a grave violation of the Constitution if the Senate of the 19th Congress dismissed the impeachment case without holding a trial.
He added the Senate’s duty is not a choice, but a command, stressing that once it received the Articles of Impeachment after being adopted by one third of all members of the House of Representatives, “trial by the Senate shall proceed forthwith.”
Azcuna also said if the Articles of Impeachment are read to the Senate and served on Duterte before the 19th Congress ends on June 30, then the process can continue into the 20th Congress.
He also distinguished impeachment trials from ordinary legislative business.
He explained that impeachment trial is a “constituent power” under Article X1, and not a “legislative power, meaning unfinished impeachment process or trial can be carried over to the next Congress.”
FIGHT FOR ACCOUNTABILITY
The impeachment complaint accuses the Vice President of culpable violation of the Constitution, betrayal of public trust, graft and corruption and other high crimes.
Brosas said public officials should not be allowed “to waste taxpayers’ money with impunity.”
“Filipinos deserve to witness justice being done against officials who violate the law and are wasting public funds,” she said in Filipino.
Brosas condemned the Vice President’s “violent language and her betrayal of public trust” while Manuel said Filipinos cannot allow the threat of violence and graft and corruption to be normalized.”
“We encourage all sectors – workers, farmers, fisherfolk, teachers, students, women, urban poor, professionals, and concerned citizens – to join rallies, forums, and other peaceful activities calling for VP Duterte’s impeachment trial to proceed without delay,” they said. “Let’s fight for accountability at transparency in government. The impeachment trial of VP Duterte isn’t only a legal process, it’s a trial of democracy.”
The Makabayan bloc said the Constitution provides clear mechanisms for removing public officials who violate their oath and “it is our duty as representatives of the people to ensure these mechanisms work for justice and accountability.”
“We call on our colleagues in the Senate to prioritize the people’s welfare over political considerations and allow the impeachment process to proceed according to constitutional mandates,” he said.
The complainants behind the first and the third impeachment complaints against Duterte are set to hold a three-day protest action in front of the Senate building today until Wednesday.
With the battle cry “Follow the Constitution! Impeachment trial now!” the groups will be joined today by progressive and democratic political parties, social movements, sectoral organizations, and religious leaders.
Organizers expect at least 4,000 participants to attend the event including Tindig Pilipinas, incoming Rep. Leila de Lima (PL, ML), Fr. Flavie Villanueva, Kiko Aquino Dee, Fr. Joel Saballa who represents the complainants of the third impeachment complaint.
Also expected are members of EveryWoman, August Twenty One Movement (ATOM) Siklab, Nagkaisa Labor Coalition, Kalipunan; Student Council Alliance of the Philippines, ASAP; Akbayan Youth, Akbayan party-list, and Magdalo Party, among others.
The groups will hold an ecumenical gathering led by Villanueva and other religious leaders followed by testimonials from the impeachment complainants, statements from key political and sectoral leaders, cultural presentations, and a collective call for transparency and justice.
On Tuesday, a prayer vigil will be held starting at 5 p.m., which will be followed by the “Day of Action for Truth and Accountability” the next day, Wednesday.
“These gatherings will highlight the critical role of an engaged citizenry in holding public officials accountable for their actions,” the groups said in a statement.
The first impeachment complaint was filed on December 2 by civil society and religious organizations. The second complaint was filed just two days later by 72 individuals led by Bayan while the third was filed on December 19 by religious groups and lawyers.
The House eventually decided to archive all the three complaints and transmitted to the Senate the fourth one filed by House leaders.
DUTY
Deans from the five Ateneo colleges of law joined the call for the Senate to immediately convene as an impeachment court.
“We are making this urgent call in faithful response to our moral and spiritual duty as educators and formators of future Ateneo lawyers. We pray that the Philippine Senate will likewise respond to its moral and constitutional duty as true servants of the public upon whom the public trust is reposed, one that is faithful to the truth and to the Filipino people,” said a joint statement from the deans of the school and colleges of law of Ateneo de Manila University, Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan, Ateneo de Davao University, Ateneo de Zamboanga University, and Ateneo de Naga University.
“Accountability of public officials for their acts and omissions cannot and should not be overridden by a resort to obfuscating technicalities and political and or self-serving maneuverings,” they added.
They said the holding of a fair, impartial and speedy disposition of the case against Duterte would uphold not only public office accountability but also respect due process as enshrined and mandated in the 1987 Constitution.
“Our Constitution is clear and categorical: Once the Articles of Impeachment have been filed and transmitted by at least one-third of all the members of the House of Representatives, “trial by the Senate shall forthwith proceed” without conditions or qualifications, and without equivocation or obstruction,” they said.
Moreover, the deans said the nature of the Senate as a continuing body “has been firmly settled” with the exception only of day-to-day business, like legislative bills and investigations.
Last week, more than 90 faculty members and legal luminaries of the University of the Philippines College of Law urged the Senate to “forthwith proceed” with the trial.
The move came a day after a draft resolution to junk the impeachment case circulated on social media, with Sen. Ronald dela Rosa later admitting the draft came from his office.
On Saturday, the Philippine Bar Association also issued a statement, saying the text of the Constitution bears no ambiguity as it urged the Senate to proceed with the impeachment trial.
MANDAMUS
Lawyer Catalino Generillo, former special counsel for the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG), has asked the Supreme Court to rule on his petition for mandamus to compel the Senate to start the impeachment trial.
The mandamus petition filed on Feb. 13, 2025 named the Senate as respondent after the chamber’s leadership failed to convene the impeachment court and schedule the start of proceedings.
In a resolution dated Feb. 18, 2025, the High Court directed the Senate and its counsel, the OSG, to comment on Generillo’s petition and issued a press briefer on the same day announcing that it has required the Senate “to comment on the petition within a non-extendible period of 10 days.”
Curiously, however, the OSG and the Senate said it was served a copy of the SC resolution only on April 29, 2025 – exactly 70 days – from the time the order to submit a comment was issued. Instead of complying, the OSG asked for an extension of 15 days invoking a heavy workload.
Generillo opposed the Motion for Extension of Time to File Comment on the ground that the SC had previously warned that it will not allow any extension and that the motion was a prohibited pleading under Section 12 of the 2019 Amendments to the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure.
On May 24, 2025, the OSG mailed a copy of its comment to the mandamus petition which was received by the petitioner on May 29, 2025.
But at the time, Generillo noted that the motion asking for more time remained unresolved.
“As of May 19, 2025, the date of the comment, it appears that the Honorable Supreme Court has not resolved OSG’s Motion for Extension of Time to File Comment. As a legal consequence, the act of the OSG in filing the Comment was not authorized by the Supreme Court. It is akin to a grotesque act of putting the cart ahead of the horse and directing the horse to move forward,” he said.
He challenged the OSG’s argument that the petition has now been rendered moot, invoking the Supreme Court’s pronouncements in its June 27, 2023 en banc ruling in the case of Romulo Macalintal vs. Commission on Elections.
In the said ruling, the SC held that “the moot and academic principle is not a magical formula” that can stop a case from being resolved.
It declared that the courts “will decide cases, otherwise moot” where there is a “grave violation of the Constitution; the exceptional character of the situation and the paramount public interest is involved; when the constitutional issue raised requires formulation of controlling principles to guide the bench, the bar, and the public; and the case is capable of repetition yet evading review.”
Generillo pointed out that the 70-day period before the SC resolution was served to the OSG was not attributable to him as petitioner.
“The constitutional duty of the Senate to constitute itself into an impeachment court and proceed with the trial of Vice President Sara Duterte immediately is unavoidable and inescapable, and the Senate should comply therewith without further delay,” he said.
‘EXPEDITED TRIAL’
Senate majority leader Francis Tolentino said he will push for an “expedited impeachment trial” so there will be no legal issues as to whether the proceedings can cross over from the 19th to the 20th Congress.
In an interview with radio dzBB, Tolentino said the Senate can adopt new or amended impeachment rules of procedures.
“Nothing will prevent the 19th Congress from adopting rules of procedure for an expedited impeachment trial as long as it will not affect the substantive rights of the respondent here,” he said.
He said the process can be finished in 19 days from June 11.
Based on Tolentino’s proposal, the House prosecution team will formally present the Articles of Impeachment on June 11. The senators will then take their oath as impeachment judges, and the Senate will send out summons to Duterte and give her 10 days to respond.
On June 22, he said, trial briefs will be submitted. Opening statements can be made on June 23. Presentation of evidence of the prosecution can be done on June 24 to 25, while the defense can present theirs on June 24 to 25.
He said June 27 can be for rebuttals, while the oral arguments can be done on June 28, with each side to be given an hour each. On June 29, he said, the senator-judges will have a closed-door meeting, and render their judgment on June 30.
Tolentino said that another way of expediting the trial would be to trim down the seven Articles of Impeachment to two or three.
He said this was done during the trials of former president Joseph Estrada, and former Chief Justice Renato Corona
He, however, said he is not “advising” the prosecution what to do.
DISMISSAL
Tolentino said he believes that not finishing the impeachment trial by June 30 will render the proceedings “functionally dismissed.”
“Even without doing anything when the clock reaches midnight of June 30, tapos na (it’s finished), even without a formal dismissal, even without a declaration that is the meaning of functional dismissal,” he added.
As result, the 19th Congress will not have anything to pass on to the 20th Congress, he said.
Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, in a separate interview with radio dzBB, said Dela Rosa’s supposed resolution which is seeking the de facto dismissal of the impeachment complaint should not be entertained.
The resolution is urging the Senate as a legislative body to scrap the impeachment complaints against the Vice President due to lack of material time in the 19th Congress to conduct a trial. It has yet to be filed.
Gatchalian said the resolution should not even be discussed in the first place since senators are mandated to proceed “forthwith” with the trial as soon as the articles of impeachment have been transmitted to the Senate.
Gatchalian also expressed belief the impeachment trial can cross over to the 20th Congress. He said the Senate was designed by the framers of the Constitution to be a continuing body, wherein 12 senators remain at one point so the chamber will remain functional. – With Ashzel Hachero, Peter Tabingo and Raymond Africa
