SENATE President Francis “Chiz” Escudero yesterday said the Senate will discuss in plenary when to convene the impeachment court that will hold the trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.
In an interview, Escudero said the August 4 date, which was earlier mentioned by Sen. Joel Villanueva, is just a proposal.
“Yun (August 4) ang iminumungkahi ko. Bakit sa petsang iyon? Dahil kailangan bigyan ng notice yung mga partido. Hindi naman puwedeng naisipan lang ng majority ng Senado na pag-open ng Senado eh bukas na bukas din. Kailangan may sapat na panahon para mabigyan ng notice yung mga partido (I suggested the August 4 date. Why on that date? Because we need to send notices to the concerned parties first. We cannot just immediately proceed even if majority of the senators want to proceed [with the trial] when the [First Regular Session of the] 20th Congress opens. There should be ample time for the notices to be given to the concerned parties),” he said after the unveiling of the new Senate Legacy Wall.
Villanueva, during a media forum last week, said that majority of senators are targeting to convene the impeachment court on August 4 to allow the Senate to be first organized as a legislative body after the July 28 opening of the First Regular Session of the 20th Congress.
Escudero said the organization of the Senate and the House of Representatives is a regular practice when a new Congress formally starts.
“That’s usual, the committees will be organized, we will elect the committee chairs, vice chairs, and members of the committees, and we will also be doing the first reading of the filed bills so they can be referred to the appropriate committees so that the process of passing measures will start,” he said in Filipino.
He also said that convening the impeachment court on August 4 will allow the new set of senators of the 20th Congress to go over what has been approved by the impeachment court during the 19th Congress.
“There are new members [in the Senate]. This is a new Congress that needs to decide on a number of things that were decided upon by the 19th Congress. I have already said this before – the 19th Congress cannot bind the 20th Congress. The 20th Congress will have to make decisions all over again. Not only the Senate, but also including the House,” he also said.
Besides, he added, the 20th Congress House has yet to comply with the impeachment court’s second order to certify if it is still interested in pursuing the impeachment complaints against the Vice President.
Escudero said the proposed August 4 date to convene the impeachment court will give the House enough time to comply with the court’s order.
Despite the delays in Duterte’s impeachment trial, Escudero assured the public that the process will proceed.
“It is not our job to rush this. We cannot rush the trial just because others are rushing us. We will do this in accordance with the process. We can have the hearing by tomorrow even without sending them notices, but that is not the process),” he said.
JURISDICTION
Escudero said he is expecting some members of the 20th Congress Senate to question the jurisdiction of the impeachment court to try and decide on the Articles of Impeachment.
He said that to settle this, the matter may need to be put to a vote, even as he said that he personally believes that the impeachment trial has already crossed from the 19th to the 20th Congress.
“The Senate is a deliberative body and we settle everything by a vote,” he said.
When asked what would happen if majority of the senators vote to dismiss the complaints even without a trial due to lack of jurisdiction, Escudero said he cannot preempt his colleagues, but said the the matter may be raised before the Supreme Court.
“I do not want to preempt the Senate, I don’t want to preempt the Supreme Court which will also decide on the matter. Maybe we can ask the Supreme Court on what to do next. This is the first time for all of us, so let us just wait for the Senate majority’s decision, the Supreme Court’s decision on this matter,” he said.
INHIBIT
Members of the Samahan ng Progresibong Kabataan (Organization of the Progressive Youth) yesterday asked Escudero to inhibit from the impeachment trial of Duterte, as they blamed him for the delays in the start of the trial.
Jericho Robles, who represented various colleges and university groups, accused Escudero of dragging his foot and allegedly deliberately delaying the impeachment trial.
Robles said they will present an “open letter” to Escudero and ask him to inhibit as the impeachment court presiding officer and as a senator-judge in the trial of the Vice President.
“Dahil nga sa loob ng matagal na panahon hindi naman siya tumitindig para ituloy ang proseso na hinihingi ng sambayanan. Ang nangyayari ay nagiging usapin na lang ito ng mga naka-upo doon sa gobyerno (For months, he has refused to proceed with the [impeachment] process, despite the demans of the people. What is happening now is that [the impeachment] has become a mere discussion topic among people in the government),” he said.
Robles made the remarks as his group held a protest action at the gates of the Senate building in Pasay City.
“The impeachment process must go on, we need to have justice in our country),” Robles stressed, adding that the planned August 4 date to convene the impeachment court is another dilatory tactic of Escudero.
He noted that the Senate leader has earlier said that the impeachment process will start a day after the First Regular Session of the 20th Congress officially opens on July 28.
Asked to comment on Robles’ statements, Escudero said he found the student groups’ demand as “unfair,” saying that they are asking him to inhibit in the proceedings just because his actions are not to their liking.
“If their definition of being fair is siding with them, with what they want, then it is not fair. It is very clear what they want. It is unfair [to ask me to inhibit] just because I am not doing what they want. Being fair means applying the rules evenly to everyone regardless who they are. I do not consider it [inhibit from the trial] a necessity, nor I consider it fair,” he said, as he stood firm on his earlier stand that he will only do what is within the process.
