THE Palace on Thursday remained mum on a proposal to delay the impeachment proceedings against Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno until the second quarter of 2018.
In a radio interview however, Palace spokesman Harry Roque insisted that the Bangsamoro Basic Law and the shift to federalism—two of President Rodrigo Duterte’s pet bills—remain priority measures of the administration and should be passed immediately.
“We are leaving it to Congress to fulfill their obligation because they are an independent branch of our government,” Roque said in Filipino.
On Dec. 20, Senator Miguel Zubiri who chairs the Senate subcommittee on the BBL, asked the House justice committee to delay its impeachment proceedings against Sereno.
Zubiri has committed to conduct marathon hearings to be able to submit the priority measure for plenary approval by March.
“I’m a bit nervous about the impeachment proceedings. I spoke to congressman Umali the other day and I said ‘Chairman Umali, if there is an impeachment, maybe it can be delayed until the second quarter because we have so many laws that need to be debated,” Zubiri said Filipino.
The Senate subcommittee on the BBL will conduct its next hearing on Jan. 18 next year, with Zubiri expecting more Cabinet members to attend the deliberations.
The Senate subcommittee will also schedule hearings in Mindanao provinces, including Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi.