AN IMPEACHMENT trial against Vice President Sara Duterte “cannot be done legally” while the Congress is on break, Senate President Francis Escudero said Thursday, February 6, 2025.
In a media forum, Escudero said the impeachment trial cannot begin yet, primarily because the impeachment court must be convened during a regular session.
“Para mag-convene ang impeachment court, dapat may sesyon ang Senado. Para manumpa ang impeachment judges, kailangan may sesyon ang Senado. Bagaman ang trial puwedeng mag-proceed kahit na recess, tulad nang nangyari kay dating at yumaong Chief Justice (Renato) Corona, dapat ito ay masimulan, ma-convene, at mapanumpa ang mga judges kapag may session,” Escudero said.
(For the impeachment court to convene, the Senate must be in session. For the impeachment judges to take their oath, the Senate must be in session. Although the trial can proceed even during recess, as what happened with the late former Chief Justice Renato Corona, it should be started, convened, and the judges should be sworn in when the Senate is in session.)
“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 added.
(If any action or event related to this occurs, it will happen on June 2 when the Senate resumes, after the election, and it will be up to the majority of the Senate to decide whether the rules will be amended and what will be included in the rules.)
For now, while the impeachment court has yet to convene, they can begin reviewing all related processes, including revisiting the impeachment rules, noting that certain provisions need updating.
The Senate went on a four-month recess Wednesday, February 4, without discussing the articles of impeachment submitted by the House of Representatives against Sara Duterte.
The articles of impeachment, which were submitted by House Secretary General Reginald Velasco, were formally received by Senate Secretary Renato Bantug Jr. before 6 p.m.
The Senate adjourned shortly before 7 p.m. The Congress will resume its sessions June 2. The break is to give way to the campaign season for the upcoming polls.
Escudero said it is unfair for some lawmakers in the lower chamber to expect them to act on the case immediately, noting that they did not have enough time to review the documents submitted to them.
“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,” Escudero said.
(If they were just going around aimlessly doing this, they probably don’t have a basis to rush us, especially since it was sent to us on the last day of the session, almost at five in the afternoon.) (TPM/SunStar Philippines)
