Chiz eyes 4 August start of impeach trial

Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero will propose to his fellow senators that they start the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte on 4 August.

“That’s what I will propose. Why that date? Because the parties need to be given notice. The Senate majority can’t just decide on a whim to open the session and hold it the very next day. There has to be enough time to properly notify the parties,” Escudero said in the vernacular in an interview at the Senate.

As the presiding officer of the impeachment court, Escudero emphasized the need to provide official notices to both the House prosecution panel and Duterte’s camp before the proceedings can begin.

He noted that the House of Representatives has yet to fully comply with the Senate court’s orders following its 10 June vote to remand the articles of impeachment.

“There hasn’t been any order from the Senate that the House hasn’t complied with. Hopefully, during that one-week period, the House will be given time to comply with the orders of the Senate impeachment court. It should be carried out by the 20th House of Representatives, not the previous one. If they still can’t comply by 4 August, then we’ll discuss it then,” he said.

Responding to persistent questions about the certainty of the impeachment trial, he said, “It will proceed according to the law.”

“I don’t need to answer questions like that, especially when they come rudely from groups that are just pestering and overly eager for the impeachment trial to proceed. It will push through and happen according to the law,” he said.

The impeachment court first convened on 10 June under the 19th Congress, voting to remand the articles of impeachment to the House without dismissing the case.

The trial can only proceed once the House certifies that the complaint does not violate the constitutional provision prohibiting multiple impeachment proceedings against the same official within one year, and formally indicates its willingness to pursue the complaint in the 20th Congress.

Senator Joel Villanueva previously indicated that 4 August may mark the first day of Duterte’s impeachment trial, coinciding with the opening week of the new Congress’s regular session.

Responding to claims that the Senate was stalling, Escudero emphasized the need to follow due process.