House prosecutor hopes polls aren’t stalling impeachment trial

A House lawmaker forming the prosecution panel on Vice President Sara's impeachment trial expressed hope that the election campaign is not the underlying factor of why the Senate is adamant not to convene to jumpstart proceedings.

In an interview on Wednesday, Batangas Rep. Gerville Lusitro, one of the 11 members of the prosecution team against Duterte, stressed that this would be unfair on the part of the House prosecutors, who are also all vying for reelection in Congress but are willing to put aside the campaign for the impeachment trial.

“Because we are in the prosecution, we also have our own battles. Nevertheless, we are appreciating this as a constitutional duty. So, in spite of the demands of campaign in our respective districts, we are all ready to be engaged or to engage in this prosecution work,” she said in Filipino.

"I wish to give them the benefit of the doubt. Maybe, if it is not really because of this campaign period that is hindering the Senate to convene right away,” the lawmaker added.

In an interview on Tuesday, Senator JV Ejercito said the Senate cannot be blamed nor rushed to take up the impeachment proceedings, taking into consideration that half the 24 sitting senators are already busy campaigning on the ground.

“Half of our colleagues are not here. It’s campaign break already. So, that's a bit difficult and tricky here. How can you complete the impeachment court if half is campaigning? You cannot blame them,” he told reporters in a mix of Filipino and English.

"If you are a candidate, each day really counts. Ninety days to go around the Philippines? That’s not sufficient... I think the problem will be how to complete it now that we are on a campaign break," he continued.

The senator put the blame on the House of Representatives' delayed transmittal of the articles of impeachment to the Senate. He argued that the House “had all the time in the world” to forward the impeachment complaints way much earlier and not at the last minute before Congress adjourned for the campaign fever.

The House impeached Duterte on 5 February, during the last day of the session. With the fourth article of impeachment, outlining the offenses of the VP, transmitted to the Senate, the first three impeachment complaints filed in December were already archived.

Contrary to the position of their counterparts in the Senate, Luistro asserted that the upper chamber can convene even during the congressional break because “impeachment is different from a legislative process.”

“Timeline is really not an issue for me. The legislative work ng Congress, we really need to do that while in session. However, impeachment proceedings can be done even when we are on recess,” she stated. “Just like in the lower house, this is a collegial decision that they need to come up with.”

Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero has maintained that holding a trial during the break “legally cannot be done” since the articles of impeachment — which would serve as the basis for the impeachment court to be convened — were not referred to the plenary before Congress adjourned last week.

Earlier, lawyer Domingo Cayosa, former president of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, said that the Senate can convene as an impeachment court because the four-month adjournment of Congress is only for their legislative function.

“The impeachment court is a non-legislative function and there is jurisprudence in the Supreme Court wherein the Court differentiated legislative and non-legislative functions,” Cayosa stated.

Iloilo Rep. Lorenz Defensor, also a House prosecutor, has argued that the Senate’s acceptance of the articles of impeachment is not the act of accepting it as part of a legislature but an impeachment court.

“It doesn't matter if the Congress is in session or on break. Once [the articles of impeachment] is transmitted to the Senate, they shall receive it as a court already,” the lawmaker noted.

Defensor also insisted that House members were not overeager to try Duterte as they just want to do things by the book as guided by the Constitution.

“That is in our Constitution. It has been clearly and repeatedly said, even by our constitutionalists and experts, that the trial shall forthwith proceed, meaning immediately,” Defensor said.

The articles of impeachment are anchored on Duterte’s alleged plot to have Marcos, First Lady Liza Marcos, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez killed, as well as on the purported misappropriation of P612.5 million in confidential funds allocated to her office and the Department of Education during her tenure as its secretary.

The Senate is expected to try her after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. delivers his State of the Nation Address on 28 July before the newly sworn-in members of the 20th Congress.

The 19th Congress is set to adjourn sine die on 13 June. One month thereafter, a new batch of lawmakers—all district representatives and 12 of the 24-member Senate—will be sworn in, commencing the 20th Congress.

Nonetheless, House prosecutors are not keen to urge Marcos to call for a special session so that the Senate impeachment court can convene, contending it is a breach of the separation of powers.