Senate letting Sara off hook dubbed a ‘betrayal’
Defensor insisted that Senate leaders must not allow the impeachment to be dismissed on the basis of a supposed constitutional deadline.
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Defensor insisted that Senate leaders must not allow the impeachment to be dismissed on the basis of a supposed constitutional deadline.
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The Senate risks betraying its constitutional duty if it allows the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte to lapse, a House prosecutor said Tuesday.
President Sara Duterte to lapse, a House prosecutor said Tuesday.
The warning was issued amid the possibility that arose Monday of the impeachment complaint against Duterte being dismissed without going to trial due to supposed constitutional challenges.
Iloilo Rep. Lorenz Defensor said he does not agree with the view of fellow lawyer Sen. Francis Tolentino, who argued that the impeachment complaint against the Vice President would be effectively dismissed because unfinished business cannot be carried over into the 20th Congress.
Senate President Chiz Escudero deferred the presentation of the articles of impeachment from 2 to 11 June to give way to the passage of 12 pending priority bills, which he said required greater attention.
“I disagree with Senator Francis Tolentino. Let’s remember that the Senate has rules of procedure, and what adjourns and ends is only their legislative power,” Defensor said in an interview.
“If the Senate weren’t a continuing body, then our 12 senators whose term will continue [in the 20th Congress] would have already lost their terms,” he added.
The date set for the presentation of the articles of impeachment falls on the last session day of the 19th Congress next Wednesday, two days before the sine die adjournment.
Congress holds sessions only from Monday to Wednesday, effectively leaving the Senate with no choice but to take up the impeachment when the new Congress opens on 28 July.
Defensor insisted that Senate leaders must not allow the impeachment to be dismissed on the basis of a supposed constitutional deadline. Doing so, he said, would amount to betraying the very Constitution they swore to uphold.
“It is tantamount to an abandonment of the Senate’s duty under the Constitution to exact accountability. This is right; it sets a bad example to the young and future leaders of our country — that they close their eyes, they close the door of the Senate to high crimes and betrayal of public trust,” Defensor said.
He stressed that the procedures and evidence should be presented to the public, regardless of the outcome.
The House of Representatives impeached Duterte on 5 February, accusing her of graft and corruption, bribery, betrayal of public trust, and culpable violation of the Constitution, among other charges. The complaint was transmitted to the Senate on the same day.
The House laid out seven articles of impeachment, centered on an alleged assassination plot against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s family and the misappropriation of more than P600 million in confidential funds allocated to the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education during Duterte’s tenure as secretary.
Duterte has categorically denied the allegations. She said she’s ready for the trial, saying it would be a “bloodbath.”
The Senate, which is constitutionally mandated to sit as the trial court, has been accused of deliberately stalling the proceedings without formally convening as an impeachment court—reportedly out of concern for potential political backlash, especially with the 2028 elections on the horizon.
Critics blamed Escudero for allegedly ignoring legal obligations in pursuit of retaining the Senate presidency in the next Congress, where potential rivals are expected to emerge.
Former Justice secretary Franklin Drilon said Duterte’s defense team may challenge the validity of carrying over the impeachment complaint to the next Congress, but the battle for accountability does not end there.
He said the Supreme Court may intervene — despite being a co-equal branch of government — if the senator-judges vote in favor of the defense.
“The [senator-judges] can vote, but the vote can be taken to the Supreme Court. It is the Supreme Court that will finally decide. That is the power that the Supreme Court has under the Constitution: to correct grave abuse of discretion,” Drilon said in an interview.
The veteran lawmaker also dismissed the need to refile the impeachment complaint in the next Congress, stressing that it is not a legislative measure.
Defensor confirmed that the prosecution is not ruling out the option of seeking a legal remedy from the Supreme Court if the Senate commits grave abuse of discretion by refusing to proceed with the impeachment.
“If we think, if we can decide that the Senate has committed grave abuse of discretion for refusing to take on this impeachment trial, it will be brought to the Supreme Court, [which] has the right to review,” he said.
He added that they will consider their options until next week before bringing the matter to the High Court.
“The trial does not end when the legislative power adjourns because, like we said, the Senate is a continuing body, and the impeachment is a political process; it is not a legislative power,” Defensor said.
