Chiz pressing convict Sara votes? ‘Gossip!’
Tongol said the meeting was part of Escudero’s legislative duties and noted that the senator and Robredo have long been friends.
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Tongol said the meeting was part of Escudero’s legislative duties and noted that the senator and Robredo have long been friends.
The spokesperson for the Senate impeachment court on Sunday dismissed as mere “gossip” reports that presiding officer Senator Chiz Escudero was wooing opposition -aligned senators to secure the threshold needed to convict Vice President Sara Duterte, following his recent meeting with former Vice President and Naga Mayor Leni Robredo.
“First of all, let’s not dignify that article or whatever it is that you call it if it is even an article,” Atty. Reginald Tongol said.
“Those are based on conjecture, suppositions, speculations and gossip, [and] it should not be dignified so there will be no oxygen leak,” he added.
Escudero, Robredo and DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon drew media attention after having breakfast together Saturday following a visit to the Department of Health–JBL Children’s Medical Center in Clark, Pampanga.
The meeting fueled speculation about possible alliances for the 2028 presidential elections, given their political backgrounds.
Robredo is allied with the opposition, Dizon is a Cabinet member of the administration, while Escudero has maintained an independent political stance since May, months after losing the Senate presidency in September last year.
Long-time friends
Escudero was also instrumental in the so-called “reconciliation” between Marcos and Robredo, who were political opponents in the 2016 vice presidential race and the 2022 presidential election.
Talks of a possible Robredo-Dizon tandem for 2028 have generated political buzz since earlier this year, although both have brushed off the speculation.
Tongol said the meeting was part of Escudero’s legislative duties and noted that the senator and Robredo have long been friends outside politics because of their Bicolano roots.
He also dismissed earlier reports linking Escudero to efforts to secure votes for Duterte’s conviction by courting senators in the minority bloc, most of whom are allied with the vice president.
The claims were “totally untrue” and “preposterous,” Tongol said, adding that Escudero was focused on reviewing testimony and documents rather than counting votes, which would be premature at this stage of the trial.
Escudero, he added, merely laughed off the vote-hunting claims.
The issue remains politically sensitive as the prosecution renewed its push to lower the number of votes required to convict Duterte, citing the frequent absence of some senator-judges and the detention of Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Rodante Marcoleta.
16 of 24
Senator Bato dela Rosa, meanwhile, remains in hiding due to an International Criminal Court warrant.
Article XI, Section 3(6) of the Constitution requires a two-thirds vote of the 24-member Senate or 16 senators to convict an impeached official. Prosecutors, however, argued that the status of three senators effectively altered the Senate’s composition.
Legal experts remain divided on whether the threshold can be lowered, while most senators, including Senate President Win Gatchalian and Escudero, have maintained that 16 votes are required regardless of how many senators are present during the trial.
Escudero settled the issue at the start of the trial on 6 July, citing the Supreme Court’s 2000 decision in Bayan v Zamora, which affirmed that the Senate comprises 24 members.
Tongol likewise warned that changing the threshold midtrial would be “dangerous” because it would require the impeachment court to amend its rules during the proceedings, which he said is “not allowed” because it would violate due process.
