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Escudero: Senate to decide if Sara Duterte trial ends in 19th Congress

Escudero: Court to decide if Sara Duterte trial ends in 19th Congress

Senate President Francis Escudero. Photo from Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau

MANILA, Philippines — Senate President Francis Escudero said it would be up to the Senate as an impeachment court to decide whether it can conclude the trial against Vice President Sara Duterte before the 19th Congress ends.

He made this remark at a press conference on Monday after being asked to comment on Senate Majority Leader Francis Tolentino’s suggestion for the chamber to expedite the proceedings against Duterte, believing that the trial could not extend into the 20th Congress.

“That is something that should be decided by the impeachment court, not the Senate. It can only be discussed once the impeachment court has been convened because that is the court’s decision to make,” Escudero said.

READ: Escudero: If Sara Duterte is impeached, President will nominate VP

Escudero also questioned why the impeachment proceedings against Duterte should be expedited.

“Shouldn’t we protect the rights of both sides? The accused and the prosecution should be given enough time to present their cases so that the senator-judges will have a proper basis for their decision when the time comes,” he said.

In an interview over DZBB on Sunday, Tolentino said he thoroughly studied the 1987 Constitution. He noted that it specifically states that nothing can prevent the Senate from promulgating its own rules “as long as it does not affect the substantive rights of the respondent.”

READ: Presentation of impeachment articles vs Sara Duterte moved to June 11

To prove his point that the impeachment trial against Duterte could be completed in just 19 days, he proposed the following timeline:

Tolentino also suggested consolidating the seven articles of impeachment against Duterte into two or three.

He said this had been done before in the impeachment case of former Chief Justice Renato Corona.

“If you can recall, during the Corona impeachment, there were eight articles of impeachment. It was narrowed down to three or four by the prosecution. Maybe if we narrow it down or limit our focus, the seven articles could be consolidated into two or three. Two is doable,” he explained.

Escudero maintained that the Senate—even as an impeachment court—cannot dictate to the prosecutors to do that.

However, he admitted that anything is possible through a motion and a vote.

“It’s not for us to decide. Anything is possible by mere motion and by vote, but it’s no longer our decision. We cannot force the prosecution and say ‘Hey, because there’s only one day, can you trim it down,’ there’s no such thing,” he said.

Escudero previously moved the reading of the Articles of Impeachment against Duterte from June 2 to June 11.

According to him, the schedule change was made “to allow the Senate to tackle priority legislative measures before the 19th Congress adjourns.”

The reading of the Articles of Impeachment would allow the Senate to convene as an impeachment court and tackle the Articles of Impeachment against Duterte./mcm

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