Escudero: No impeachment trial vs. Sara Duterte during session break

The impeachment trial against Vice President Sara Duterte will not start until the upper chamber resumes session, Senate President Francis "Chiz" Escudero said Thursday.

During the Kapihan sa Senado forum, Escudero explained that an impeachment can only be convened in a plenary session, citing the Senate rules that "the Senate President shall take proper order of the subject of impeachment."

"Ibig sabihin nun isaayos muna ng Senate President ang Senado para sa pag-conduct ng pagdinig o trial," Escudero said.

(That means the Senate President must first prepare the Senate for the conduct of a trial.)

"Para mag-convene ang impeachment court, dapat may sesyon ang Senado. Para manumpa ang impeachment judges, kailangan may sesyon ang Senado. Bagaman ang trial pwedeng mag-proceed kahit na recess, tulad ng nangyari kay dating at yumaong Chief Justice [Renato] Corona, dapat ito ay masimulan, ma-convene, at mapanumpa ang mga judges kapag may session," he said.

(For an impeachment court to be convened, the Senate must be in session. To swear in the impeachment judges, the Senate must be in session. While the trial may proceed even during recess, such as during the impeachment trial of the late Chief Justice Renato Corona, it must be started, convened, and the judges sworn in during session.) 

Further, Escudero said the verified impeachment complaint was not referred to the plenary, which means, there is no basis for the impeachment court to be convened. 

"Legally it cannot be done... The impeachment complaint was not referred to plenary for there to be a basis for the impeachment court to be convened by the Senate sitting as a legislative body, hindi muna as impeachment court," Escudero said. 

Since the impeachment court was not convened during the last day of session on Wednesday, Escudero said it might start after the resumption on June 2.

"Kung may mangyayari mang aksyon o kaganapan kaugnay nito, yan ay mangyayari sa June 2 pag-resume ng Senado, matapos ang eleksyon at pasya yan ng mayorya ng Senado kung aamyendahan ba yung rules, ano ang ilalagay sa rules," he said.

(Any action related to this will only occur on June 2 when Senate resumes session, after the election, and when the majority of the Senate has decided whether to amend the rules, what to put in the rules.)

While the impeachment court has yet to convene, Escudero said they can already start the review of all processes related to the process, including the revisiting of the rules of impeachment as he highlighted the need for this to be updated.

Despite the need to amend the impeachment court rules, which was last used against Corona, Escudero said they will not delay the impeachment procedure. 

“Hindi namin ito mamadaliin pero di rin naman namin ito labis na iaantala. Hindi kami magpapa-pressure kaninoman na bilisan ito o idelay ito. Gagawin namin ang trabaho namin ayon sa Saligang batas bilang pagsunod sa tinatalaga nito at rules mismo ng Senado,” the Senate president said. 

"Ang impeachment process para sa akin hindi mahalaga kung pabor kayo o kontra. Hindi mahalaga kung ma-acquit kayo o mako-convict. Ang mahalaga para sa akin bilang tagapangulo ng Senado maging maayos ito, sang ayon sa batas, credible kapanipaniwala at maggagawad ng hustisya pabor man yun sa opinyon ng nakararami o hindi," he added. 

With his opinion that the impeachment court can only be convened during the resumption of session, which would be after the 2025 elections where the 12 new senators will be elected, Escudero said he is certain that the decision on Duterte's impeachment will be rendered during the 20th Congress. 

"Halos tiyak na yun aabot ng 20th Congress at ang magpapasya na dito ay ang 20th congress at hindi ang 19th Congress," Escudero said. 

For the Senate president, the impeachment trial could continue in the 20th Congress as he compared the impeachment court with other judicial bodies and constitutional commissions with quasi-judicial functions where the cases continue even though the judges have retired. 

"Patuloy lamang ang mga kaso maski nagpapalit ang bumubuo ng collegial court na 'yun tulad lamang ng impeachment court. Lalo na at court of record ang impeachment court. Magpalit man, mag absent man, hindi man mapakinggan nang personal ng impeachment judge, pwede pa rin siya gumawad ng desisyon base sa record na tinanggap ng ebidensya ng impeachment court," he said. 

With the scenario that the 12 senators of the 19th Congress could still sit as impeachment judges, Escudero mentioned that the impeachment rules might include authorizing the 12 other remaining senators to proceed with the preliminary procedures of the trial such as the order for Duterte to answer the complaint, submission of judicial affidavits of the witnesses, and pre-trial, among others. 

For Escudero, there is no impediment for Duterte to include her father—former President Rodrigo Duterte—her husband, and even herself, who are all lawyers, to be part of her defense team before the impeachment court.

The Vice President is not also compelled to attend all the hearings on her impeachment, unless on instances where her presence is needed, Escudero said.

Should Duterte evade the court's order to present herself, Escudero said a subpoena may be issued against the Vice President. 

Escudero also indicated that it is unfair to expect them to act on the Articles of Impeachment last Wednesday as they need to examine the documents first, particularly the signatures of the congressmen who endorsed the complaint.

He mentioned that e-signatures are not allowed as each signature should be sworn before the secretary-general of the House of Representatives.

"Kung nagpabanjing-banjing sila gawin ito siguro wala naman silang basehan ngayon na madaliin kami lalo na nasa huling araw na ng sesyon yan pinadala sa amin halos mag-a-alas singko pa ng hapon," he said.

(If they did this so unhurriedly then surely they would have no cause to hurry us up, because they only sent it to us on the last day of session at nearly 5 p.m.)

"Hindi naman siguro makatarungan at tama na pagkatapos nilang upuan ito ng ilang buwan biglang pupuwersahin, pipilitin at sasabihan kami ng sinuman galing sa Kamara na, ‘Hoy, bilisan niyo. Ano ba kayo?’ Hindi ganun at hindi ako papayag nu'n," he added. 

(It's surely not right that after they sat on this for months before acting on it, they're going to force us and tell us, 'Hey, hurry it up. What's wrong with you?' That's not right and I won't accept it.)

The Senate on Wednesday adjourned sessions without mentioning anything about the impeachment of Duterte.

Battle-ready

But for Representatives Lorenz Defensor of Iloilo and Rodge Gutierrez of 1-Rider party-list who are part of the 11-strong prosecution team against Vice President Duterte, there is no legal barrier for the Senate to convene as Senate impeachment court even when it is not in session.

“Since the Constitution provides that trial shall proceed forthwith, if we interpret forthwith, dapat po sana as soon as possible ‘yun [then it should be as soon as possible]. But since the Senate is an independent body, and we respect their independence being a bicameral legislature. We will leave that to the interpretation of the Senate. I will refuse to comment on how they should act because they will be judges in this impeachment trial and we accord them with the utmost respect,” Defensor said.

Defensor was referring to the Article 11, Section 3.4 of the 1987 Constitution which states that "in case the verified complaint or resolution of impeachment is filed by at least one-third of all the Members of the House, the same shall constitute the Articles of Impeachment, and trial by the Senate shall forthwith proceed." 

“So, sana po, maagapan ang pagsimula. Kasi the sooner that the evidence could be laid down, the sooner that due process can be exercised, the sooner the issues pending before us can be resolved. Sana po, maagahan, dahil handa naman ang prosecution team,” Defensor said.

(We are hopeful that the Senate can start  the impeachment trial soon. We really hope that it will happen soon because the prosecution team is ready.)

“The impeachment trial is a sui generis, [meaning] kakaibang proseso po ito. It's a class of its own, and it is not bound by the legislative calendar," Defensor added.

Gutierrez, for his part, said the House will be ready to prosecute the Vice President regardless if the Senate calendars the trial soon or by June.

“The House will not shy away from its constitutional duty. Verily, we have already initiated the impeachment complaint as mandated by the Constitution. We will not shy away from the preparations too. As we speak, the House leadership is already preparing the impeachment secretariat. So we will be prepared,” he said.

“If ever the Senate does indeed interpret that they could proceed with trial as early as March, we will be ready. If they decide that it will continue after June 2. we'll be even more ready,” Gutierrez added.

'Who is Mary Grace Piattos?'

Former Bayan Muna party-list representative Neri Colmenares, who is one of the initial complainants in the impeachment complaint against the Vice President, echoed the position of the members of the prosecution panel that the Senate has the mandate to convene as an impeachment court even when they are not in session.

“They have a separate mandate [aside from being a legislator] as an impeachment court judge. In fact, under Senate rules, if an impeachment court has been convened, you will have to suspend legislative proceedings. Lalo na ngayon, wala na silang ita-tackle na bills. Tapos na [Especially now, they have no bills to tackle. It's done]. They will come back in June as a pro forma [ministerial proceeding],” Colmenares, who was once part of the 11-strong prosecution team during the impeachment trial of former Chief Justice Renato Corona that secured a conviction before the Senate impeachment court, said in another press conference.

“They have all the time now until June 30 to start the impeachment trial. Pwedeng ituloy ng Senado ang impeachment trial ngayon kung gustuhin nila. ‘Yun ang panawagan ng taong bayan dahil pera ng taong bayan ang nawawaldas rito. Sino si Mary Grace Piattos? Who received these confidential funds? All these things are valid and legitimate questions, and the Senators, as representatives of the people, are obligated to act on it,” Colmenares added.

(The Senate can start the trial now if they want to because this involves taxpayers' money. The conduct of the impeachment trial is the call of our people. Who is this Mary Grace Piattos?)

No formal talks

According to Escudero, there were no formal talks among the senators regarding the impeachment case as they don't want to "presume" that it will happen and they might appear to be "excited" on the matter.

Earlier, Senate Secretary Renato Bantug Jr. said there was a need for "complete staff work" to go over the articles—something that was not finished before the Senate adjourned.

Bantug said they only finished the "comparing and matching" of documents a few minutes after the Senate's plenary session.

House Secretary General Reginald Velasco arrived at the Senate on Wednesday around 4:47 p.m., or about an hour after the House of Representatives impeached Duterte, to transmit to the Senate the verified impeachment complaint.

Bantug officially received the documents at 5:50 p.m. at his office.

According to the verified complaint approved by the House plenary, the complainants moved to impeach Duterte "based on the grounds of Culpable Violation of the Constitution, Betrayal of Public Trust, Graft and Corruption, and Other High Crimes."

The endorsers numbered 215, exceeding the required one-third of House membership for the complaint to go straight to the Senate as provided in the 1987 Constitution.

LIST: The House members who signed the impeachment complaint vs. VP Sara Duterte

The Senate will serve as the impeachment court.

The impeachment complaint largely stemmed from the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability's inquiry on the use of confidential funds by the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd) under Duterte's leadership. 

Congress has adjourned sessions to give way for the Eleksyon 2025 campaign.

They will resume sessions on June 2. — with a report by Llanesca T. Panti/BM, GMA Integrated News