Former Senate President Franklin Drilon. 鈥� File photo
MANILA, Philippines 鈥� Former Senate President Franklin Drilon said on Monday he finds the Senate鈥檚 reason for delaying Vice President Sara Duterte鈥檚 impeachment trial questionable, adding that the Senate could finish the trial before June 30 if it wanted to.
Drilon made the pronouncement after Senate President Francis 鈥淐hiz鈥� Escudero earlier explained that Duterte鈥檚 impeachment trial was further delayed to June 11鈥� literally the day Congress will adjourn 鈥� so that Congress can pass priority legislation before adjourning sine die.
READ: Escudero: No Marcos order to delay Sara Duterte impeachment trial
But Drilon, citing his over 24 years in the Senate, questioned the reasoning, noting that no significant bills are usually passed during what he called 鈥渓ame-duck sessions.鈥�
According to Drilon, lame-duck sessions refer to the sessions held by the Senate after the elections wherein reelectionists usually no longer attend, while those who won prefer to wait for the next Congress.
鈥淧ractically nothing is passed in a lame-duck session. The Senate president knows that. He has been through this before,鈥� said Drilon in an interview with 好色先生TV鈥檚 INQsideLook.
鈥淪o, you know, excuse me, but I don鈥檛 believe that the legislative agenda is of such nature that a constitutional duty to sit as senator-judges should be set aside and should be inferior to the legislative agenda,鈥� he added.
The Senate can finish the trial before June 30 should it wish to do so.
Drilon said that the Senate 鈥� once convened as an impeachment court 鈥� can push to finish the trial even before June 30 since it can set its own calendar.
This, he explained, disputes Escudero鈥檚 previous claims that a 10-day summons period would already cause delays in the trial.
鈥淭he 13 members of the Senate constituting themselves as the impeachment court can [shorten it.] 鈥� This is such a public issue that to say that we need 10 days to do that or X number of days to receive is just being technical about it. It can be revised,鈥� said Drilon.
鈥淭he Senate, the impeachment court, is what we call in law a sui generis. It is a body, by itself, different from the Senate. And it can set its own rules,鈥� said Drilon.
According to Drilon, if the Senate actually wanted to finish the trial, it could begin its impeachment trial at 8 a.m., suspend at noon, resume at 2 p.m., and then end at 10 p.m. every day.
鈥淵ou can finish a trial. The impeachment court can set its own calendar. Convene it today. Have hearings every day, Monday to Saturday. Suspend everything. And you can finish it before June 30,鈥� said Drilon.
鈥淸Even] this late, kung gustuhin talaga, pwede pa (if it really wanted to, it could). As I said, convene it tomorrow, have a trial every day, 8 to 10,鈥� he added.
Drilon reminded senators that the Constitution requires that the impeachment court 鈥渋mmediately start forthwith,鈥� and that the majority of the public and even the vice president herself, already wants the trial to proceed.
鈥淪o I would appeal to my former colleagues. Let鈥檚 try the case now. Let鈥檚 hold the hearings now,鈥� said the former Senate leader.
Doing so, said the former Senate leader, would also allow the Senate to escape issues on jurisdiction, particularly in having the trial spill over to the 20th Congress, which he admitted, has no precedent.
鈥淭o avoid this question of jurisdiction, finish the trial in June during the 19th Congress,鈥� said Drilon. /das