The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) urged the faithful to “combat moral indifference,” directly calling out the Senate for its apparent reluctance to commence with Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial.
Bishops, who gathered for the 130th CBCP Plenary Assembly in Bohol, renewed their call for transparency and accountability amid the lawmakers’ supposed inaction.
“We are disturbed by the delay in the Senate in executing the constitutional demand for the impeachment process of the Vice President,” the CBCP said in a statement.
“We affirm that impeachment, when pursued with truth and justice, is a legitimate democratic mechanism for transparency and accountability in governance,” it noted.
The prelates also urged Catholics to listen to different sides with openness and “foster a culture of engaged citizenship rooted in our Christian faith.”
Recently, CBCP President Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David said that postponing the trial would constitute a betrayal of the 1987 Constitution and public trust.
He underscored that the impeachment process, while political and quasi-judicial, must not be free from the ethical imperatives of truth, justice, and accountability.
Meanwhile, Senator Ronald Dela Rosa yesterday vowed to seek a vote on whether the Senate should convene as an impeachment court for Duterte’s trial.
“Maybe my first motion would be to determine whether or not the Senate of the 20th Congress is willing to be bound by the actions of the previous Senate. I want to ask that question to settle the issue of jurisdiction,” he told reporters in a mixture of Filipino and English.
“Since the impeachment court asked the House whether it is willing to be bound by the actions of their predecessors during the 19th Congress, you can expect me also to raise the same question on the Senate floor once the session of the 20th Congress is convened,” he added.
Dela Rosa pointed out that “the composition of the 20th Congress is different,” stressing incumbent lawmakers may not have to follow through on the decisions of their predecessors.
However, House prosecutor and Batangas District Rep. Gerville Luistro insisted that the Senate must proceed with the impeachment trial, stressing that the process is lawmakers’ constitutional duty.
Furthermore, she warned members of Congress against being swayed by public opinion.
“Well, I have said this earlier, regardless of the result of the survey, we have a constitutional duty that we have to face. There is nothing more supreme than the Philippine Constitution,” Luistro told reporters on Wednesday.
“So, regardless of the survey results, whether the percentage supporting impeachment is high or low, we must conduct a trial,” she added.
Her statement was an apparent reaction to a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showing that most of the respondents were against the impeachment complaint against Duterte.
Luistro also brushed aside Duterte’s allegation that the impeachment complaint is little more than political persecution and harassment.
“If there is no evidence, [then] that is political prosecution. But if evidence exists, that is a legitimate prosecution. As far as we are concerned, we have ample and strong evidence supporting the seven Articles of Impeachment,” she said.
