Eager beavers make waste

The effort to remove a popular official, like the Vice President, from an elected post based on an obvious political motivation would have to go through a process acceptable to the public, as it involves their investments, which are the votes they cast.

During an exchange on the Senate floor, Minority Leader Sen. Aquilino Pimentel tried to badger Senate President Chiz Escudero for the reason the convening of the impeachment court was postponed to 11 June, or nine days later than planned.

The eager beaver members of the Senate minority and the House prosecutors have been aching to raise the curtain on what they expect will be another telenovela as the crucial 2028 presidential polls approach.

Escudero, during the exchange with Pimentel, presented clues of a possible modus vivendi with the Palace regarding the conduct of the trial of VP Sara Duterte or even its immediate termination.

On Wednesday, a resolution seeking to kill the impeachment case that was supposedly drafted by Sen. Bato dela Rosa was routed among the senators.

It appeared to have the guidance of those in lofty positions to end the divisive process.

Escudero hinted at a Palace hand in moving the convening of the Senate tribunal to 11 June, which was arrived at after the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) meeting last 29 May.

“Given the meeting at LEDAC, several bills needed to be approved and taken up before we finally finish and wind up the 19th Congress,” Escudero said.

A LEDAC participant, Speaker Martin Romualdez, said the Senate leader’s decision to move the start of the trial should be respected.

Pimentel then insisted that the original schedule, which called for the process to start on 2 June, should have been followed.

Escudero then pointed out the need for the prosecutors of the House to read the articles of impeachment to trigger the convening of the Senate court, based on the American practice that is being adopted.

“Mere receipt by the secretary general of the impeachment complaints does not trigger the start of the Senate proceedings, as any communications from the House must be referred by the plenary to the appropriate committee for proper action,” Escudero explained.

The articles need to be presented to the Senate, which will then convene the impeachment court, and the regular processes, such as the issuance of summonses, will follow.

A notice was sent to the House prosecutors that they will be presenting the articles of impeachment, according to the Senate leader.

The notice, insofar as the convening of the impeachment court is concerned, will come after the articles of impeachment have been read and presented before the body, he added.

In the past, it was the majority leader who read the articles of impeachment, not the prosecutor, according to Escudero, which added another hurdle for the House contingent.

Among the noisy personalities vying for a slice of the action in the prolonged drama is party-list Representative-elect Leila de Lima, who has yet to take her seat as a member of Congress.

De Lima is angling to be included on the prosecution panel, which would be a mistake due to her extreme political bias.

She is a vocal critic of former President Rodrigo Duterte, Sara’s father, which has raised questions about her impartiality.

Her detention from 2017 to 2023 on drug trafficking charges is behind her eagerness to join the prosecution panel on a vendetta rather than the pursuit of justice.

This perception is fueled by her public statements linking the impeachment to accountability for issues like extrajudicial killings, which she heavily criticized Duterte during his presidency.

Her involvement risks tainting the impeachment process with accusations of personal score-settling, undermining the credibility of the political process.

De Lima and Pimentel will likely be frustrated as they will not be able to wield their sharpened axes at all.