Senate President Francis Escudero solutions question from members of the media in the course of the Kapihan sa Senado weekly discussion board on this file photograph taken on February 6, 2025 in Pasay Metropolis. INQUIRER.web/Not Morcoso
MANILA, Philippines — Three letters and a Supreme Court docket petition don’t a “clamor” make.
Senate President Francis Escudero on Wednesday stood agency on his place to attend for the resumption of congressional session on June 2 earlier than holding the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.
Escudero stated he didn’t assume the Senate could be compelled to behave a lot earlier, amid calls from numerous authorized consultants, politicians and civil society leaders for the chamber to already represent itself into an impeachment courtroom.
“What clamor? From who?” Escudero requested throughout a press briefing on Wednesday. “One case has been filed (within the Supreme Court docket) whereas three letters have been despatched to me. Is that ‘clamor?’ I don’t assume so.”
READ: Escudero: Senate making ready for VP Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial
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For the reason that Home of Representatives transmitted the articles of impeachment to the Senate on Feb. 5, his workplace has thus far acquired three place papers urging the senators to instantly begin Duterte’s trial, he stated.
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The most recent was submitted on Wednesday by former Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares, who echoed the argument made by Senate Minority Chief Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III that, beneath the 1987 Structure, the Senate “shall forthwith proceed” with the trial upon receipt of the grievance. Pimentel raised this level in a letter to Escudero on Feb. 14.
On Monday, the group 1Sambayan, led by retired Supreme Court docket Senior Affiliate Justice Antonio Carpio, additionally requested Escudero to start out making ready for the impeachment proceedings.
Jesus comparability
However the Senate chief stated: “In what e-book does it say that if one case has been filed, there’s already a clamor? Ought to there be 5, 10, 15 or 20 instances filed earlier than we name it ‘clamor’?”
“I don’t outline that as ‘clamor.’ (However) there are folks asking for it,” he stated. “What number of instances needs to be filed and what number of letters needs to be despatched to me earlier than we name it a clamor? I don’t know the reply to that query.”
“If we return throughout time of Jesus, there was a clamor to crucify Him. It didn’t imply that it was the appropriate factor to do,” he stated.
Escudero, a lawyer, maintained that the Senate couldn’t represent itself as an impeachment courtroom until President Marcos orders a particular session, an choice that former Senate President Franklin Drilon earlier advised.
On SC petitions
As to the petition filed on Feb 14 asking the Supreme Court docket to compel the Senate to instantly type into an impeachment courtroom, and to the 2 later petitions opposing such proceedings, Escudero stated it might be as much as him and his 22 fellow senators to determine whether or not to observe the courtroom’s ruling.
He recalled that the Home as soon as defied the excessive tribunal’s choice that stopped that chamber from pursuing the impeachment of then Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. in 2003.
“For me, we should always adjust to the (Supreme Court docket’s order) until a (senator) questions it and places it to a vote,” he stated, including:
“The choice of the presiding officer just isn’t last. It’s the choice of the impeachment courtroom as a physique that can be last, whether or not I agree or not. However if you happen to ask me, we should always observe the Supreme Court docket’s choice on this matter as a common rule.”
Venue, gear checked
Whereas sticking to the timeline that units the trial after June 2, Escudero stated, the Senate had truly began making ready for the historic proceedings—beginning with the venue.
He stated an inspection had been performed on the gear for use by the senator-judges, together with the witness stand that was final used in the course of the impeachment trial of the late Chief Justice Renato Corona in 2012.
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By his personal estimate, he stated, the chamber wouldn’t spend greater than P1 million for the setup and different necessities of trial.
