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Marcos: Will call聽special session if asked by Senate

HANDS OFF President Marcos fields questions about the impeachmentof Vice President Sara Duterte at a Palace press briefing on Thursday.

HANDS OFF: President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. fields questions about the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte at a Palace press
briefing on Thursday. (Photo by Marianne Bermudez | Philippine Daily Inquirer)

MANILA, Philippines 鈥 President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Thursday that, if requested, he would call a special session of the Senate to tackle the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte, which was supported by his son, his cousin and 213 other members of the House of Representatives.

Senate President Francis Escudero also told reporters also on Thursday that the Senate received a copy of the articles of impeachment against Duterte late on Wednesday when Congress adjourned in preparation for the midterm elections.

Escudero said that the Senate should be in session to convene as an impeachment court, but that the purpose of a special session to be called by the President was only for urgent legislative measures.

鈥淥f course, when a special session is called, whether we agree or not, of course we will attend,鈥 he said.

Senate 鈥榥ot ready鈥

Marcos said in a news conference that he could call a special session on the impeachment.

鈥淚f the senators ask for it, yes,鈥 he said. 鈥淎gain, they will be the ones to decide, not us. If the Senate President calls me up on the telephone, 鈥業 talked to the senators about having a special session.鈥 鈥楽ure.鈥 I will do it. But if there鈥檚 no such request, it means that they are busy with something else. They are not yet ready.鈥

Former Bayan Muna Representatives Teddy Casi帽o and Neri Colmenares urged Escudero to stop passing the 鈥渂all鈥 of Duterte鈥檚 impeachment and let the Senate perform its constitutional duty of convening an impeachment court 鈥渇orthwith鈥 after it received the complaint from the House.

Only way out

Colmenares said the 鈥渙nly way out now鈥 is for Marcos to call a special session 鈥渋f only to address the demand of the Filipino people to proceed with the impeachment trial.鈥

Marcos, who had voiced his opposition to oust the Vice President, said that as Chief Executive, he had no 鈥渇ormal role鈥 in the impeachment of his former ally who was the other half of the formidable Uniteam that won the 2022 national elections with a massive landslide.

He said, however, that he discussed the impeachment with his cousin, Speaker Martin Romualdez, and other congressmen. 鈥淏ut we鈥檙e at this stage. We can no longer avoid this,鈥 he said.

The President said he tried to stop the plan to impeach Duterte. 鈥淏ut that didn鈥檛 work. It pushed through. So, we follow the process.鈥

He said that the impeachment trial would have to proceed with the Senate acting as the court and the House serving as prosecutor.

鈥淔rom this point on, I鈥檓 just a very interested observer,鈥 the President said.

View 鈥榙oesn鈥檛 matter鈥

Last year, the President remarked that Duterte鈥攚ho bared a plan to have him assassinated鈥攚as insignificant in the larger scheme of things and that an impeachment would only distract lawmakers and wouldn鈥檛 benefit a single Filipino.

鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 matter what I think at this point,鈥 he said.

He doesn鈥檛 see the filing of the four impeachment complaints against Duterte as an act of 鈥渄efiance鈥 to his position.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 view that as defiance. I view that as expressing what they feel to be right,鈥 Marcos said.

He said that there was the belief that he could order the lawmakers to do his bidding.

鈥淵ou give me far too much credit,鈥 he said. 鈥淲e are independent of each other. Of course, we talk to each other about all kinds of things.鈥

Advice to son

His eldest son, Ilocos Norte Rep. Sandro Marcos, was the first to sign the impeachment complaint. Romualdez was the 215th signatory.

The President said his son asked him for advice on the impeachment.

鈥淚 told him, 鈥楾he process has already begun. So, it鈥檚 your duty now to support that process. So, do your duty.鈥 That鈥檚 what I told him,鈥 he said. 鈥溾楧o your duty. You have to support the process. You are constitutionally mandated to carry out that process. And you鈥檙e a congressman, so do your duty.鈥欌

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know [he鈥檇] be the first to sign, though,鈥 Marcos said. 鈥擶ITH REPORTS FROM TINA G. SANTOS AND JEANNETTE I. ANDRADE

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