Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson on Sunday called on his fellow senator-judges to leave the filings of motions and pleadings related to the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte to the prosecution and defense teams.
In a post on X, Lacson maintained that the job of senator-judges is to make a ruling based on the arguments by the prosecution and defense.
“A gentle caution to senator-judges of the impeachment court, we should leave the filing of all motions and pleadings to the prosecution and defense teams,” he said.
“Our job is to listen to their arguments and counter-arguments and make a ruling,” he added.
Over the weekend, Senate impeachment court spokesperson Reginald Tongol was quoted as saying they expect fierce debates if Senator Ronald dela Rosa pushes through with his motion to ask the 20th Congress if it is willing not to take up the impeachment case.
Tongol said the debate may be one of the “threshold issues” on the floor, and may be about what the boundaries of a senator-judge are.
Lacson earlier pointed out that the defense panel, and not a senator-judge, should be the one to move to dismiss the impeachment case against the Vice President.
He also maintained that senator-judges should behave and speak like judges — be impartial, speak only to clarify statements from the prosecution and defense, and not express personal opinions on the case — since the public will observe their demeanor during the trial.