ICC proceedings won't affect VP Sara's impeachment trial — Chiz

Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero said the impeachment trial against Vice President Sara Duterte will proceed as scheduled while she will attend her father’s trial before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands.

In a press briefing on Monday, Escudero emphasized that the Vice President's impeachment trial is unrelated to the ICC proceedings concerning former President Rodrigo Duterte's charges of crimes against humanity.

The Senate President said there is no direct link between the two separate issues—the impeachment and the ICC trial.

“Ang sinabi ko sa inyo kung masusunod ‘yong pre-trial arrangement mas magiging mabilis ‘yong pagdinig and hopefully bago kami mag-recess sa loob ng tatlong buwan ay kaya ng tapusin ‘yong impeachment trial. So, papalo sa petsang ‘yon dahil usually naga-adjourn ang Senado bago mag October 10 (If the pre-trial arrangement is followed, the hearing will proceed more quickly, and hopefully, before we go on recess in three months, the impeachment trial will be completed. So, it should fall around that date because the Senate usually adjourns before October 10),” Escudero said. 

He said the ICC proceedings will not affect the Senate’s trial on the Vice President’s impeachment, as the two matters are separate and should be handled on different timelines.

The young Duterte has been acting as the family's representative, meeting and coordinating with the former president's defense team.

She earlier announced that British-Israeli lawyer Nicholas Kaufman will lead her father’s defense counsel, with former executive secretary Salvador Medialdea and former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque acting as supporting lawyers.

Escudero said the impeachment trial should proceed independently of the ICC proceedings.

“So, kung September 23 ‘yong (impeachment) trial halos ‘yong panahong ‘yon. Pero wala namang ugnayan ‘yon, whether nagsabay, hindi nagsabay wala namang nakasulat sa batas na bawal mag sabay, hindi namna gan’on ‘yon (If the trial starts on September 23, that would be close to that timeframe. But there is no connection between the two, whether they coincide or not. There's nothing in the law that prohibits them from happening at the same time; it's not like that),” he pointed out. 

“Lalo na kung busy halimbawa si Vice President Duterte bilang isa sa mga abogado ng kaniyang ama, hind inga naman siya required mag attend ng impeachment trial sa Senado maliban na lang kung ire-require siya ng impeachment court dahil kailangan siyang i-identify na sa tingin ko hindi naman papasok sa isyung ito dahil kilala naman siya ng lahat (Especially if Vice President Duterte is busy, for example, as one of his father's lawyers, she is not required to attend the impeachment trial in the Senate unless the impeachment court requires her, and that's only if she needs to be identified, but I don't think that will be an issue because everyone already knows her),” Escudero added.