Marcos may call for special session in wake of Sara Duterte impeachment —Escudero, Drilon

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. may call for a special session following the endorsement of the impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte, Senate President Francis "Chiz" Escudero and former Senate President Franklin Drilon on Thursday said.

During the Kapihan sa Senado, Escudero said a special session may be called by the President, but it has to be for the passage of a necessary legislation.

However, Escudero said they may tackle the impeachment complaint upon the decision of the senators.

"Puwedeng mangyari 'yun pero ang pagpapatawag sa special session ay 'di para magconvene ang impeachment court… Ang pagpapatawag ng special session ay para sa mahahalagang bagay at panukalang batas na kailangan ipasa ayon sa ating Saligang Batas. Hindi ito isa o saklaw marahil ng probisyong yun kaugnay ng special session," he said.

"If the secretariat is ready, yes it will be included in the agenda but it is not my sole decision it will be voted upon by plenary," he added.

Should Marcos call for a special session, Escudero said the Senate would heed the request.

"Pero haharapin namin 'yun pag andyan na. Syempre pag nagpatawag ng special session, sang-ayon man kami o hindi, siyempre alangan namang hindi kami mag-attend," he said.

As he agreed with Escudero's position that the impeachment complaint must first be referred to the impeachment court through plenary action, Drilon said the "remedy" is the calling of a special session.

"The President can call Congress to a Special Session for the Senate to perform its constitutional duty of acting as an impeachment court to try the VP," Drilon, a lawyer like Escudero, said.

"Calling Congress to a Special Session to tackle the impeachment complaint is the sole prerogative of the President which cannot be questioned, not even by the Supreme Court," he added.

While he said a special session may be called, Escudero said there is no need to call for one and maintained that the impeachment will be tackled when they resume sessions.

"What is the problem? What is there to 'remedy'? It was filed a few hours before we adjourned. We lacked material time to consider it given the process of taking 'proper order of the subject of impeachment,'" Escudero said when asked to comment on Drilon's position.

"We resume on June 2 and will definitely take this up after approving our Impeachment Rules. I will follow the law and legal procedure, will not deviate from it and will treat this as any other impeachment case. As I said, I will not rush this nor will I inordinately delay it," he added.


On Wednesday, the Senate adjourned its sessions without tackling the impeachment complaint endorsed by the House of Representatives on the same day.

Congress will resume sessions on June 2.

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

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 under Duterte's leadership.—LDF, GMA Integrated News