House of Representatives concludes the second regular session of the 19th Congress. (Picture from House of Representatives鈥� Facebook page)
MANILA, Philippines 鈥� While House Speaker Martin Romualdez is a 鈥済uiding light鈥� for lawmakers in terms of policy making, no one is forced to follow him, unlike what some people think.
House Deputy Majority Leader and La Union 1st District Rep. Paolo Ortega V said gave this view in an ambush interview on the sidelines of the House tri-committee hearing on Thursday.
The lawmaker is reacting to Senate President Francis Escudero鈥檚 statement that lawmakers are blindly following Romualdez.
Escudero made the remark after he observed that House members are being too pushy regarding Vice President Sara Duterte鈥檚 impeachment.
He noted that if it is the job of House lawmakers to follow Romualdez鈥� stand on the impeachment blindly, it is not his job as Senate leader.
READ: Escudero slams solons for dictating how VP impeach trial should go聽
鈥淚 know, right?聽 What haffen (happened)?鈥� Ortega jokingly asked, referring to a recently-viral quip.
鈥淲e are not鈥�. The Speaker is our source of inspiration and our mentor and our guiding light. He is our leader here in the House, and he has issued a statement saying that he is leaving it to the sound discretion of the Senate,鈥� says Ortega.
鈥淭he speaker has not directed us to do anything. That is not the case,鈥� he noted.
鈥淎s I鈥檝e said, each lawmaker has his/her own beliefs, and maybe our fellow lawmakers here in the House would not last long in鈥� like they have their own districts. They will not be seasoned politicians if they will just be subservient,鈥� he added.
According to Ortega, the decisions made by lawmakers should reflect what their constituents believe in.
鈥淲e need to decide, at the end of the day, based on the mandate given to us by the people,鈥� he said.
鈥淎nd as I鈥檝e said, in my comment on the impeachment trial 鈥� I am confident about that because the 1987 Constitution is there, and the Constitution is the number one protector of the people鈥檚 interests,鈥� he added.
In an ambush interview on Wednesday, Manila 2nd District Rep. Rolando Valeriano said that he has never met Romualdez personally nor discussed anything in private with him.
He noted that the only time they met was during plenary sessions.
According to Valeriano, his decision to support Duterte鈥檚 impeachment came from the desire of people in his district.
He said he might have lost in the 2025 midterm elections if he had not signed it.
Bataan 1st District Rep. Geraldine Roman, meanwhile, said that Romualdez has been quiet about the impeachment, after having said last Monday that it is up to the Senate to decide on the matter.
READ: Sara Duterte impeachment now up to Senate 鈥� Romualdez聽
Last week, there have been speculations on whether or not the impeachment would push through after Escudero rescheduled the presentation of the Articles of Impeachment.
Originally, Escudero sent a letter to Romualdez inviting the House prosecution panel to present the Articles before the Senate plenary on Monday, June 2 鈥� while the impeachment proceedings will start supposedly by Tuesday, June 3.
However, last Thursday, Escudero sent another letter to Romualdez informing the speaker that the reading of the Articles will be rescheduled to June 11.
This is the last session day of the Senate before the 19th Congress closes its sessions.
Rumors that the impeachment trial will no longer push through intensified after sources revealed to 好色先生TV and other media outlets that a draft Senate resolution seeking to dismiss the impeachment raps was being circulated among some senators.
It cited lack of time to discuss the matter as the reason for junking the proceeding.
READ: Estrada confirms there鈥檚 a reso seeking to scrap Duterte impeachment trial
Several past and present House lawmakers believe that dismissing the impeachment complaint against Duterte through a mere Senate resolution will be unconstitutional.
They believe the trial should be conducted first before judgement is made.
House prosecution member and Manila 3rd District Rep. Joel Chua said on Wednesday that he believes a possible resolution to dismiss the impeachment violates the 1987 Constitution.
He said senators should be mandated to hear the arguments from both the defense and the prosecution.
Chua鈥檚 fellow prosecution member, Batangas 2nd District Rep. Gerville Luistro, meanwhile noted that the Constitution requires a trial before judgement is rendered.
READ: Dismissing Sara Duterte鈥檚 impeachment thru Senate reso illegal 鈥� solons聽
Article XI, Section 3 of the Constitution gives the House the power to initiate all impeachment complaints against impeachable officers 鈥� the president, vice president, members of the Supreme Court, constitutional commissions and the Ombudsman.
The same section states that a Senate trial 鈥渟hall forthwith proceed鈥� if the verified impeachment complaint, contained in a resolution, is filed and signed by one-thirds of all House members.
With 306 members in the House, any impeachment resolution would need 102 signatures 鈥� which means, this requirement was attained after 215 lawmakers signed the impeachment on February 5./apl