De Lima: Escudero didn鈥檛 ease doubts if impeachment trial is a go
Senate President Francis Escudero’s briefing on Monday failed to address concerns on whether the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte will proceed, former Sen. Leila de Lima said. File photo of former Sen. Leila De Lima (Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau)
MANILA, Philippines — Senate President Francis Escudero’s briefing on Monday failed to address concerns on whether the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte will proceed, former Sen. Leila de Lima said.
De Lima, in an interview with reporters inside the Batasang Pambansa complex, said she has not watched Escudero’s entire press conference, but she expected more from the Senate leader based on snippets of his interview uploaded on social media.
“But the way I see it, I was expecting more from the statements, from the pronouncements, from the Senate President kanina, sa presscon. Akala ko, ‘yong para bang aalisin na niya ‘yong mga agam-agam tungkol d’yan kung magkakaroon pa ba ng trial o hindi,”de Lima, who will be a member of the House of Representatives in the 20th Congress, said.
(But the way I see it, I was expecting more from the statements, from the pronouncements, from the Senate President earlier, at the presscon. I thought he would remove all doubts regarding that, if there would be a trial or not.)
“I think he could have been more categorical,” De Lima said of Escudero.
De Lima said she expected Escudero to announce that the House will push through with the impeachment trial whatever happens.
“(What I wanted to hear is that) by so far as the Senate was concerned, tuloy-tuloy kami. Whatever is the issue to be raised, basta kami, in so far as the Senate is concerned, itutuloy namin ‘to kasi ito ay mandato namin. Ito ay utos ng Saligang Batas. I was expecting that kind of a stance sa kanya earlier but it was not. Medyo iffy pa rin, right? Kasi hindi ka pa rin nakakasiguro,” she noted.
(What I wanted to hear was that, so far as the Senate was concerned, we would continue. Whatever the issue to be raised, we, as far as the Senate is concerned, will continue because it is our mandate, this is the directive of the Constitution. I was expecting that kind of a stance from him earlier but it was not. It was somewhat iffy, right? You cannot be sure yet.)
Earlier, Escudero held a press conference regarding updates to the impeachment proceedings, following his letter last Thursday to the House prosecution panel, informing them of the changes to the scheduled presentation of the articles of impeachment.
The prosecution panel was supposed to present the articles before the Senate plenary on Monday, but Escudero rescheduled it to June 11.
Then in the press conference, Escudero said the 19th Congress “cannot bind” the subsequent Congress regarding its next moves, noting that the 20th Congress would need to reconvene as an impeachment court and decide on its own terms.
“There is that possibility. Again, we cannot bind subsequent Congresses. But that is only not applicable to us. All Congresses cannot bind subsequent Congresses by virtue of the principle that we cannot pass an irrepealable law,” he said.
Escudero said he is not saying that there would be no trial, but that the next Congress has leeway to decide on the matters related to Duterte’s impeachment trial.
“We cannot bind the subsequent Congress – that’s all I’m saying. The next Congress can decide in the same manner or in a different manner. Hindi ko sinasabing walang assurance na hindi tutuloy. I am not saying that,” he said.
(I am not saying that there’s no assurance that it would continue. I am not saying that.)
READ: Fate of Sara Duterte impeachment trial up to Senate plenary – Escudero
Earlier, de Lima also said that Escudero’s decision to move the presentation of the articles before the Senate plenary from June 2 to June 11 — effectively delaying the proceedings — goes against what is stated in Article XI of the Constitution.
Article XI, Section 3(4) of the Constitution states that if a verified impeachment complaint is “filed by at least one-third of all the Members of the House” — in this case, 102 out of 306 members — “the same shall constitute the Articles of Impeachment, and trial by the Senate shall forthwith proceed.”
A total of 215 House members signed the impeachment complaint against Duterte.
“Yes, yes, that’s always been my position, that is clearly violative of what the Constitution says — forthwith is forthwith. At saka ilang beses na ‘yan nade-delay, ilang beses na ‘yan napo-postpone (And that has been delayed and postponed for so many times),” de Lima told reporters.
“The House of Representatives and the Senate cannot point fingers because I think the Senate President said something about, that na in the first place daw the House is late also in transmitting — correct me if I’m wrong — so now they are blaming each other,” she added.
According to de Lima, what should be certain is that trial is not optional — hence, the Senate must convene as an impeachment court.
Last February 5, Vice President Duterte was impeached after 215 House lawmakers filed and verified a fourth complaint, accusing her of misuse of confidential funds (CF) lodged in her offices, and threatening high-ranking officials including President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos, and House Speaker Romualdez.
READ: Sara Duterte impeached; House gets 215 to sign
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The fourth complaint was a combination of the first three impeachment raps filed by groups — which included findings of the House committee on good government and public accountability, which showed issues on the CF expenditures.
