Sen. Robin Padilla. Photo from Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau
MANILA, Philippines鈥斅� Sen. Robin Padilla has sought to declare the terminated even before the Senate could convene as an impeachment court.
Padilla sought the termination of the impeachment proceedings through Senate Resolution No. 1371聽 he filed at 5:42 p.m. on聽 Monday.
Notably, his resolution was lodged while senators were debating in the plenary on Senate Minority Leader Aquilino 鈥淜oko鈥澛� Pimentel鈥檚 motion, urging the Senate to immediately convene as an impeachment court.
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In his resolution, Padilla noted that the Articles of Impeachment against Duterte were transmitted to the Senate for trial by the House of Representatives last February聽 5.
Until now, however, the Articles of Impeachment were not referred to the Senate plenary for disposition 鈥渢hereby precluding referral thereof to the聽 Senate convened as an impeachment court pursuant to Section 3(6), Article聽 XI of the Constitution,鈥� he said.
Padilla also cited a provision in the Senate rules which state that all pending matters and proceedings shall terminate upon the expiration of one Congress.
鈥淭he Articles of Impeachment against Vice-President Sara Zimmerman Duterte is one such pending matter, and the consideration thereof is one such pending proceeding,鈥� he said.
鈥淔rom all the foregoing, it is indubitably clear that the matter of the Articles of Impeachment against Vice-President Sara Zimmerman Duterte and its consideration by the present Senate cannot be fully accomplished by the expiration of the Nineteenth Congress on 30 June 2025, thereby resulting in its termination,鈥� the senator added.
Because of this, Padilla said the Articles of Impeachment against the Vice President should be 鈥渄eclared as terminated鈥� in accordance with the Senate rules.
This is not the first time that the possible dismissal of the impeachment case against Duterte was floated.
On June 2, Senate Majority Leader Francis Tolentino manifested in the plenary that the impeachment case against the Vice President might be considered 鈥渇unctionally dismissed by constitutional operation鈥� if the Senate, sitting as an impeachment court, fails to conclude the trial by June 30, 2025, the last day of the 19th Congress.
According to him, the impeachment proceedings could not cross over to the 20th Congress 鈥渇or lack of constitutional authority.鈥�
Also last week, Sen. Ronald 鈥淏ato鈥� dela Rosa owned up to a draft resolution that seeks to declare the 鈥渄e facto dismissal鈥� of the impeachment case against Duterte.
鈥淐onsistent with the foregoing, the Articles of Impeachment against Vice President Duterte must necessarily be deemed DE FACTO DISMISSED by virtue of the inability of the Senate to properly consider the same because of the timing of the transmittal thereof by the House of Representatives,鈥� the draft resolution read.
The Articles of Impeachment were transmitted by the House to the Senate for trial just hours before Congress went on a four-month break.
Senate President Francis 鈥淐hiz鈥� Escudero then set the presentation of charges by the House鈥檚 panel of prosecutors on June 2 and the convening of the Senate impeachment court the following day.
However, Escudero later moved all these to June 11 to allow the Senate to pass the priority legislation before the 19th Congress adjourns sine die. The next Congress will open on July 28. /mr /das