Escudero: VP Duterte’s impeachment will proceed despite her father’s trial at ICC
Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero on Monday said the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte will proceed despite the ongoing trial of her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, on charges of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.
Escudero said the impeachment trial has nothing to do with the ICC proceedings.
“Those (the impeachment and the ICC trials) are separate incidents. I don’t see any connection between the two, and it’s not a reason to delay anything the Senate needs to do regarding our work here and whatever is happening in The Hague,” he said in a press briefing.
“There is no law that says we will postpone the impeachment because of the ICC. There is nothing in the law that allows us to postpone the impeachment because of a protest action,” he added.
Escudero added that the same timetable for the younger Duterte’s impeachment trial will be followed.
In a proposed calendar for the impeachment trial earlier released by the Senate chief, the start of the trial is being eyed for July 30, 2025.
“It’s still the same, and like what I said, it’s a proposed schedule. We’ve already furnished both parties—the House and the Vice President as well as the members of the Senate. All of these will be final and will be approved if this will be agreed upon by the Senate and the impeachment court,” said Escudero.
He mentioned that the impeachment trial may be almost finished before the former president’s ICC trial starts.
“If the pre-trial arrangements are to be followed, the hearings will be faster, and hopefully, before we take a recess, within three months, we can already finish the impeachment trial,” he said.
“If Vice President Duterte is, for instance, busy as one of the lawyers of her father, she is not required to attend the impeachment trial at the Senate,” he added.
Escudero also sees no legal impediment in the Philippines for the vice-president to be her father’s lawyer at the ICC, despite a legal prohibition against government officials practicing their professions.
Meanwhile, the Senate is set to implement the existing impeachment rules for the Vice President’s trial to a large extent, according to Escudero.
He said that they have a limited number of amendments to the rules they can accommodate.
Likewise, the impeachment trial of the vice president is not expected to be delayed or affected if the ICC orders the arrest of Senator Ronald dela Rosa.
“I don’t see any reason for it to be delayed. At least, he won’t be late,” Escudero said, referring to Dela Rosa’s earlier statement that he plans to seek refuge at the Senate premises once an arrest warrant is issued against him by the ICC.
