Senate can’t 鈥榞et out鈥� of duty, it must hold impeachment trial 鈥� Monsod
Constitutionalist and former Commission on Elections Chairman Christian Monsod (INQUIRER photo)
MANILA, Philippines — Based on the 1987 Constitution, the Senate cannot “get out of its duty” and it is obliged to act on the impeachment trial against Vice President Sara Duterte.
This view was given by Constitutionalist and former Commission on Elections chair Christian Monsod who dismissed on Thursday what he called “written technicalities” used by some lawmakers to justify their bid to stop the impending trial.
Monsod’s remarks came after Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa’s admission that he initiated a draft resolution seeking to declare the “de facto dismissal” of the impeachment case against Duterte.
Apart from dela Rosa, Senate Majority Leader Francis Tolentino likewise argued that the case would be deemed “functionally dismissed” if the Senate fails to conclude the trial before June 30, 2025.
Tolentino said this principle was affirmed by Jefferson’s Manual which states that “unfinished business” do not carry over into a new Congress.
These statements, however, were countered by Monsod, insisting that a trial should take place even if it would cross into the 20th Congress.
“The Senate is not functioning as a legislative body. The Senate is functioning as a trial court for the impeachment. That is different. The power that they have is different,” he pointed out in an interview over DZMM Radyo Patrol 630.
“That power is given to them by the Constitution as a duty of the Senate,” he emphasized.
“They cannot get out of the duty by all kinds of written technicalities that do not exist anyway,” he contended.
But what would happen if a resolution was successfully filed in the Senate primarily seeking to halt the impeachment trial?
Monsod said at this point, lawmakers from the House of Representatives may raise the matter to the Supreme Court.
Inhibition from the trial
Given their bold stance on the matter, Monsod said both dela Rosa and Tolentino should not participate as senator-judges in the Duterte case.
The Constitutionalist pointed out that both senators have “prejudged” the case, affecting the legitimacy of their independence.
“If they have already prejudged the case, they should recuse themselves,” he said.
“Where is their integrity? After doing all these things to stop the process and all that, then they will participate. But the people already know where they stand,” Monsod noted.
“If they are like that, then they do not have independence and they should not participate in the process,” he repeated.
Originally set on June 2, Senate President Chiz Escudero postponed the reading of the Articles of Impeachment against Duterte to June 11.
This process is essential to the case as it signals that the Senate will finally convene into an impeachment court./apl
