Sotto vows to act ‘forthwith’ on any impeachment case sent to Senate
Senate President Vicente Sotto III on Tuesday said he would act “forthwith” on any impeachment complaint that will be sent to the chamber for trial amid talk that both President Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte may face impeachment complaints this year.
“One thing is certain. As SP (Senate President), I will act on it with dispatch, forthwith!” Sotto said in a statement.
His predecessor, then Senate President Francis Escudero, drew flak for his failure to convene the Senate into a court to “forthwith” hear the articles of impeachment against Duterte following their transmittal from the House of Representatives on Feb. 5 last year.
After finally convening as a court, the Senate on June 11 voted to toss back the complaint to the House, asking it to certify that it was not constitutionally infirm.
On July 25, the Supreme Court struck down the complaint as unconstitutional, ruling that it violated the one-year rule on the filing of multiple complaints. The Senate later voted to have it archived.
“That’s putting the cart before the horse,” Sotto, however, said when asked if the Senate is preparing for the transmittal of an impeachment complaint. “Is there an impeachment? Will both pass in the House of Representatives?”
Betrayal of public trust
In an interview with the Inquirer on Tuesday, House Senior Deputy Minority Leader Edgar Erice said an impeachment complaint against Mr. Marcos was being prepared by two individuals closely affiliated with Duterte. He did not identify them.
Erice claimed the pair asked whether he was interested in endorsing the complaint on the ground of betrayal of public trust in relation to the 2023 to 2025 budgets.
“I politely turned it down because these individuals are really pro-Duterte stalwarts and I don’t want to be identified as such, being an LP member,” he said, referring to the Liberal Party.
“What they said is that there were already two lawmakers who committed to endorse it, one from the majority and one from the independent bloc.”
The Makabayan bloc, on the other hand, has expressed their intent to refile their complaint against Duterte on Feb. 6.
They also scored Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco for saying he would refuse to sign any impeachment complaint against Duterte until a “big fish” in the flood control scandal was caught.
