VP Sara's impeachment, trial possible if Congress all-in —complainants

The impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte within a year will only happen if members of Congress, both the House of Representatives and the Senate, are all in for it, complainants said Friday.

Lawyer Kristina Conti and House Deputy Minority Leader France Castro said that Senate is a continuing body.

"It is stated in the Constitution that once the House refers the impeachment complaint to the Senate, then the Senate will constitute itself as an impeachment court. It doesn't specifically say that the Senate can only convene as an impeachment court over an impeachment complaint sent to them within the same Congress," Conti said during the Agenda forum.

"As long as the House forwards this to the Senate, regardless of who its members are or were, then it should be valid [the following 20th Congress for trial],” she added.

She said the process in the House could be shortened if there are 103 signatories or lawmakers who will endorse the impeachment complaint.

"Because it will be referred straight to the Senate. Kaya, dun sa mga natatakot, usapin ito na, all or nothing, all-in tayo dito. Pag all-in, mas mabilis,” Conti added.

The 19th Congress only has four weeks before it ends, of which three weeks will come before Congress temporarily adjourns session to give way to the 2025 polls campaign period. The remaining week will be in June or after the May 12 polls.

Castro backed Conti, saying that the Senate being a continuing body since only 12 out of the 24 senators will be elected in the May 2025 polls

“An impeachment complaint is no ordinary bill that when Congress adjourns, you have to refile that bill again. The Senate is a continuing body. There will be 12 from previous Congress who will still be there, and after elections, another 12 will come in. Once the impeachment is sent to the Senate, they can discuss it,” she said.

“The House leadership is engaging in a balancing act here, but personally, I know that we can get that 103 [threshold] as long as the political parties take a stand for it,” Castro added.

Senate President Francis Escudero earlier said one of the issues that needs clarification is if the impeachment complaint could continue once the 19th Congress ends.

"Dapat tignan at pag-aralan at suriin din kapag ito ay inabutan sa anumang stage, hindi pa nare-refer sa amin o na-refer na sa amin ng pagpasok ng 20th Congress, tanong ang bibitawan ko katulad ba ito ng ibang bill na kailangang magsimula ulit? Back to square one o magsu-survive ba ito ng 19th Congress at tatawid sa 20th Congress?" Escudero raised.

(It should be looked at, studied, and examined, especially if it reaches us at any stage, whether it has not yet been referred to us or has already been referred at the beginning of the 20th Congress. My question is, is this similar to other bills that need to start over? Are we going back to square one, or will it survive the 19th Congress and carry over into the 20th Congress?)

There are three pending impeachment complaints against Duterte before the House.

Duterte welcomed the filing of the complaints against her.

“So, okay din 'yung impeachment case dahil ako lang ang tinitira doon, ako lang iniimbestigahan noon. Ako lang ang inaatake ng impeachment case. Hindi na kasali ang nga kasamahan ko sa OVP and mga dati kong kasama sa DepEd. Masagot na ng final kung ano 'yung mga inaakusa nila sa akin,” Duterte said.

(So, it’s okay they filed an impeachment case since I’ll only be the one who's being attacked. I’ll only be the one who's being investigated. I’ll only be the one who is being attacked in the impeachment case. My staff in the Office of the Vice President and Department of Education will no longer be involved. I can finally answer what they are accusing me of.)

While stressing that their complaint is meritorious, Castro admitted that the House might also be dragging its feet because the impeachment complaint does not have enough numbers to secure conviction before the Senate impeachment court.

“Ang nagiging problema siguro, tinatantiya rin nila ‘yung opposition ng Senate sa ngayon. Kaya, siguro, ‘yun ang tinitignan po nila, kasi gusto natin magtagumpay itong impeachment,” Castro added.

(The problem is, they are also walking on eggshells in terms of coming up with enough numbers in the Senate. Maybe that is what they are considering, because we all want this impeachment to succeed.)

Former chief presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo agreed that an impeachment will prosper as long as all members of Congress are for it, regardless of timeline.

“Timeline wise, medyo masikip. But regardless of public support, iyong mga members ng Congress, kung gusto nila ito, mangyayari. But of course, there’s a risk [to that],” Panelo said.

A pro-impeachment group, dubbed as Peach Coalition, was earlier formed to convince lawmakers to endorse the impeachment complaint against the Vice President.

GMA News Online reached out to the House leadership for comment and will publish them as soon as it is made available.—AOL, GMA Integrated News