Impeachment court spox rejects political intrigue over Escudero-Robredo meeting

The spokesperson for the Senate impeachment court on Sunday dismissed reports stirring intrigue over the recent meeting between Senator Chiz Escudero and former Vice President, now Naga Mayor, Leni Robredo, asserting that there was no political motive behind the encounter.

The statement comes in the wake of rumors that Escudero, the impeachment court’s presiding officer, is wooing senators allied with the opposition bloc in a bid to secure the two-third threshold required to convict Vice President Sara Duterte.

“First of all, let’s not dignify that article or whatever it is that you call it if it is even an article,” said Atty. Reginald Tongol, former news anchor and program host for a television network.

“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 and Robredo’s meeting, along with DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon, on Saturday drew media attention, with some speculating about possible alliances for the 2028 presidential elections given their diverse political backgrounds.

Robredo is allied with the opposition, whereas Dizon is a Cabinet member of the administration. Escudero, meanwhile, has maintained an independent political stance since May, months after losing the Senate presidency in September last year.

Photos circulated online showed that Escudero, Robredo, and Dizon had breakfast together after visiting the Department of Health (DOH)–JBL Children’s Medical Center in Clark, Pampanga.

Escudero was also instrumental in the so-called “reconciliation” of Marcos and Robredo, who are known political opponents in the 2016 vice presidency and the 2022 presidential race.

Talks of a possible Robredo-Dizon tandem for the 2028 elections have generated political buzz since earlier this year, though the two brushed it off.

Meanwhile, Duterte—who stands trial and faces possible disqualification from holding public office if convicted—announced plans to run for the highest post and succeed her ally-turned-opponent President Marcos Jr., as early as February.

Tongol was first appointed as the court’s spokesperson by Escudero in the previous Congress, though the trial did not proceed after the Supreme Court struck it down on a technicality. He was designated to the same capacity last July, at the start of the trial.

Tongol contended that the meeting was part of the senator’s legislative duties and that Escudero and Robredo have long shared a friendship outside of politics because of their Bicolano roots.

He debunked conspiracy theories supposedly aimed at sowing intrigue over the meeting as baseless gossip.

Earlier this week, Tongol also disputed rumors linking Escudero to vote-hunting or secret efforts to build the required numbers for Duterte’s conviction by courting several senators in the minority bloc, most of whom are allied with the VP.

The spokesperson dismissed the claims as “totally untrue” and “preposterous,” noting that Escudero is focused on reviewing testimony and documents rather than vote counting, which would be premature at this early stage of the trial.

He also added that Escudero merely laughed off the vote-hunting claims.

The threshold for Duterte’s conviction in her ongoing impeachment trial remains a flashpoint as the prosecution renewed its push to lower the required vote due to the supposed frequent absence of some senator-judges and the detention of Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Rodante Marcoleta.

Senator Bato dela Rosa, meanwhile, remains in hiding due to an International Criminal Court warrant.

Article XI, Section 3(6) of the Constitution sets the required number of votes to convict an impeached official at two-thirds of the 24-member Senate, though the prosecutors argued that the standing of the three senators effectively altered the Senate's composition.