Senate should have tackled impeachment complaint before it adjourned — Sotto, Lacson

Senatorial candidates Vicente "Tito" Sotto III and Panfilo Lacson said the current Senate should have tackled the impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte before the Senate went on recess.

Sotto, a former Senate President, said the current Senate leadership should have reported the impeachment to the plenary and referred the complaint to the Committee on Rules so it could be processed during the break.

"It was their decision not to refer it… I don’t know the reason why,” Sotto said at the Kapihan sa Manila Bay.

The Senate went into the recess without taking up the transmittal of the articles of impeachment by the House of Representatives on the last session day before the campaign period for Eleksyon 2025.

Sotto also raised the issue of “contradictory” rules of the Senate and impeachment, which might cause issues for the complaints.

“There is a Senate rule that says when we adjourn, everything stops. There is an impeachment rule that says we must continue with the impeachment no matter what until the verdict is given… I’m more concerned about that," Sotto said.

Sotto noted that while Senate bodies are legislative in nature, impeachment courts are a judiciary body that must continue with the trial until it ends.

“Once you are a judiciary body of the impeachment court, and therefore you must continue with the trial or the impeachment until its culmination," Sotto said.

Lacson said he believes the Senate as an impeachment court will not lose jurisdiction on the impeachment complaint should it be turned over to the 20th Congress.

“Kung nag start sila itackle o kaya busisiin ang articles of impeachment, tapos nag-constitute na sila, maski abutin ng sine die adjournment, ang question nalang na ireresolve, kung magcrocrossover sa 20th Congress... Ang thinking ko rin… yung Senate as an impeachment court is akin to a Sandiganbayan Division or a Court of Appeals Division, or even a Supreme Court division na pag nagretire na member yung Division, ‘di naman ito mahinto na ang lahat,” Lacson said.

(If they start to tackle or go through the articles of impeachment then they constitute it, even if they reach the sine die adjournment, the only question to resolve is if it will cross over to the 20th Congress… What I think is that the Senate as an impeachment court is akin to a Sandiganbayan division or a Court of Appeals division, or even a Supreme Court division that when the member of a division retires, the case still won’t stop.)

“So tuloy-tuloy and Senate being a continuing body at may darating na 12 [senators]… So continuing body… na hindi mahihinto ang kaso at hindi malilipat. Hindi mawawalan ng jurisdiction ‘yung division maski merong umalis at merong pumalit na bagong justice,” Lacson explained.

(The Senate being a continuing body will proceed and 12 [senators] will arrive… So continuing body… that will not stop or transfer the case. The division will not lose jurisdiction even if some leave and a new justice steps in.)

He said that the courts would not be able to finish tackling the complaints before the Senate’s sine die by June 25 either way, as even presenting evidence to the prosecution would take too much time and will still not meet the sine die date.

Lacson echoed Sotto’s opinion that the Senate should not be considered a legislative body for the impeachment trial.

“Hindi legislative acts ang kino-call [ng Senate] pagka impeachment trial, kundi ibang constitutional body na yan… Iba na yung personalities ng Senado… Impeachment court na nga, at hindi magsasawa ito ng legislation acts kundi itatackle yung impeachment trials. Sa tingin ko pwede magcross-over, pero that’s me,” he shared.

([The Senate] does not call out for legislative acts during the impeachment trial, but a different constitutional body… The Senate will be using a different personality… It is now an impeachment court, and it will not do legislation but will be tackling the impeachment trials. I think it can cross-over, but that’s me.)

The impeachment process under the Article XI of the 1987 Constitution under "Accountability of Public Officers” states that a trial conducted by the Senate, which will act as the Impeachment court, after endorsement from the House.

An official will be convicted if two-thirds of the Senate votes in favor.  

In 2012, both Sotto and Lacson were part of the impeachment court and voted in favor of impeaching the former Chief Justice Renato Corona for betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Philippine Constitution. — Jiselle Anne Casucian/RF, GMA Integrated News

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