THE hesitancy was already palpable when the Senate leadership dilly-dallied to hear during their election break the impeachment case brought before their chamber.
And now with the pretenses down, the grand design to just let the next Senate take up the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte becomes glaring.
The unravelling of Senate President Francis Escudero came during a press conference last Monday where he announced that it is up to the Senate plenary to decide on the impeachment case.
He also said that with the 19th Congress nearing its final sessions this month, the decision to continue or not the vice president’s impeachment trial will fall on the 20th Congress.
“The 19th Congress cannot bind subsequent congresses, or any congresses for that matter,” the Senate President pointed out.
It is disappointing though that the current Senate leadership is dodging its constitutional duty by treating the impeachment complaint as if it is a mere traffic violation.
‘“The convening of the impeachment court and proceeding with the impeachment trial is not optional,” said De Lima, who will sit in the House prosecution panel.’
We must remember that Duterte was overwhelmingly impeached by 215 congressmen on February 5 for misuse of confidential funds, betrayal of public trust, and even a plot to destabilize the sitting president, among others.
The complaint was transmitted on the same day to the Senate for trial, but the chamber adjourned its session without acting on it.
Escudero conveniently argued that while the word “forthwith” should mean that the Senate will convene as an impeachment court, it would be illegal to do so while Congress is on recess.
While on break, the Senate leader scheduled the reading of charges against Duterte for last Monday, June 2, only to move it to June 11, citing an urgent need to pass priority legislation.
Senate minority leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel was right to argue that there is no provision in the 1987 Constitution that “expressly prohibits” the next Congress from continuing the impeachment proceedings.
“On the contrary, the Senate Rules on Impeachment support the position that the impeachment trial shall continue until final judgment, even if it is necessary to continue into the next Congress,” Pimentel told his fellow senators who ready to declare the impeachment complaint as “functionally dismissed” if no decision is reached by June 30.
The Senate president, according to former senator and incoming Rep. Leila de Lima, violated the Constitution after he rescheduled the presentation of the Articles of Impeachment against Duterte to June 11.
“The convening of the impeachment court and proceeding with the impeachment trial is not optional,” said De Lima, who will sit in the House prosecution panel.
De Lima, also a former justice secretary, further noted the four months that have passed since the transmittal of the Articles of Impeachment, with no action, raises questions on the lack of political will on the part of the Senate President.
Escudero has now mastered the art of dilatory tactics as if taunting the next Congress to do their worst with an “inherited” impeachment case.
We agree with the calls for the vice president to stand trial, not so much for her redemption, but for “Mary Grace Piattos,” “Patty Ting,” and “Sala Casim” and others who were cruelly bashed for benefitting from her intelligence funds – if indeed they’re real persons.
