The Senate is already preparing for the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, but the proceedings will not begin until Congress is in session, Senate President Francis Escudero said on Wednesday.
“Since the impeachment has already been filed, an impeachment trial is certain to happen, and the Senate must prepare for it. Even though we are in recess, we are not wasting time in making the necessary preparations,” he said in a press conference.
“(But no proceeding) will happen because we are in recess. I will repeat — no matter what anyone says — as long as there is no session and the Senate has not convened, no trial can take place. That is clear and explicit in our rules,” Escudero added.
He said the Office of the Solicitor General will represent the Senate in petitions filed before the Supreme Court regarding the impeachment trial.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Senate to comment within 10 days on a petition compelling the Senate to proceed with the impeachment trial of the Vice President without delay.
Duterte and her allies also filed separate petitions asking the High Court to halt the Senate impeachment proceedings.
“We referred that (petitions) to the Solicitor General’s Office as the government’s lawyer. SolGen will answer, will appear, and will handle the case for the Senate,” he said.
Escudero said while the Senate legal team has drafted an advisory for his review, it would eventually be forwarded to the OSG.
“Perhaps it was providential that we did not proceed with the trial because we took a recess, so all these matters could be brought to the Supreme Court, and the Supreme Court could decide so that nothing would stop or delay the trial using these technicalities or issues that defendant VP Sara might cite during the trial in the Senate. So the Supreme Court has enough time to resolve and answer all these issues before the impeachment court even convenes,” Escudero added.
However, Escudero rejected suggestions that there is a “clamor” for the trial to begin immediately.
“What clamor? From who?” he said, adding that three people so far have urged him to begin the proceedings even while during the congressional break.
“I don’t define that as clamor,” the Senate President said.
On Wednesday, Bayan Muna, led by Neri Colmenares, submitted a position paper urging the Senate to convene immediately as an impeachment court.
“This contains the legal basis on why the Senate president can already take action for the preliminaries without the need of drafting a new set of rules,” Colmenares said.
“We hope they can take action…You only need one ground to convict and they can dispose the case even before June 30. They can already finish it if they really want to convene a trial,” he added.
On Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III said the Upper Chamber is duty-bound to promptly conduct the impeachment trial.
In a letter addressed to Escudero, Pimentel, a Bar topnotcher, noted the definition of the word “forthwith” as stated in the Constitution.
“Since it is a Constitutional provision or term we are giving to, the term ‘forthwith’ must be interpreted in accordance with the Verba Legis rule, that is, it should be given its ‘plain and ordinary meaning,’” he said in his letter.
Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros agreed with Pimentel.
“I agree with his position that, based on his understanding of the Constitution, the directive is clear that once the articles of impeachment have been transmitted to us, we should immediately convene into an impeachment court,” Hontiveros said.
Senator Ronald dela Rosa, who served as police chief during the Duterte administration, said it was best to wait for the jurisprudence from the Supreme Court.
For his part, Rene Sarmiento, a member of the 1986 Constitutional Commission, said the Senate can convene as an impeachment court even if Congress is on break.
Former presidential adviser Teresita Deles said the decision of the Senate to push back the impeachment trial is not aligned with the provision of the Constitution.
“The Constitution is forthright with this. Once the impeachment complaint reaches the Senate, the impeachment trial should start,” said Deles, who was part of the group that filed the first impeachment complaint against the Vice President.
“The Constitution does not say that if they are in recess, that they should wait for the recess to be finished. It does not say to do so only at your convenience. What the Constitution stated is forthwith: The impeachment trial should start,” she added.