Risa on Bato-Alan move: ‘Turns out there was such a plan’
The decision of the Senate impeachment court on Tuesday to send the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte back to the House of Representatives reeked of conspiracy, according to one of the five senator-judges who voted to let her trial proceed without further delay.
“I’m disappointed at the turn of events. There was gaslighting that happened,” said Sen. Risa Hontiveros, who still looked dejected as she spoke to reporters on Wednesday.
“Well, it turns out that there was such a plan,” she replied when asked if she suspected that the motion to return the articles of impeachment to the House was premeditated.
Cayetano-Dela Rosa move
“Whether how long ago it was or how recently it was [planned], it materialized with their proposed motion,” Hontiveros added. “If it was a play or a maneuver… why did the Senate do it as an impeachment court?
Hontiveros was referring to the motion Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano made to amend the original proposal of Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa to toss out the impeachment complaint without the senator-judges holding a hearing first.
Dela Rosa, who had consistently defended Duterte from accusations that she committed impeachable offenses, moved to drop the case against her even before the Senate could convene itself into an impeachment court on Tuesday night.
Voting 18-5, the senator-judges approved Cayetano’s motion directing the House to issue a certification that it did not violate the constitutional prohibition against the filing of more than one case against an impeachable official within a year.
It also directed the House of the incoming 20th Congress to inform the Senate whether it would still pursue the impeachment case against Duterte.
“Despite what happened, the fight for justice continues. We are still taking steps,” Hontiveros said.
Koko’s frustrations
Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, who had also tried to block Dela Rosa’s motion to summarily dismiss the impeachment case, vented his own frustrations.
“I’m so exhausted explaining our arguments to them,” Pimentel said after he and Hontiveros engaged some peers in heated debate for almost five hours.
“They adopted a motion with a dangerous language that (opened) a possibility that could be interpreted that (it killed the impeachment complaint),” he said, repeating one of the arguments he raised on the floor.
Besides Pimentel and Hontiveros, three members of the Senate majority bloc—Sherwin Gatchalian, Grace Poe and Nancy Binay—voted against Cayetano’s motion.
Speaking to reporters after Tuesday night’s proceedings, Gatchalian said he respected the decision of the senator-judges, but that it would have been more “transparent and fair” if the issue raised by Dela Rosa was tackled during the trial itself.
“Just because we will hear those issues during the trial proper doesn’t mean that the (impeachment process) would continue. There’s also possibility that the case would be dismissed,” Gatchalian said.
“(Discussing it during trial) is the proper procedure. And I believe that the defense (team) would raise it eventually,” he said.
In a press conference on Wednesday, Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero, now also the presiding officer of the impeachment court, said the House must comply with the order they had issued.
Escudero stressed that the roles of both chambers of Congress during the impeachment proceedings were not similar to their legislative work.
Like in ordinary court processes, he said, the “court is not equal to the parties involved.”
“We’re not coequal regarding this matter. During impeachment, the Senate acts as a court while the House acts as the prosecutor,” Escudero said.
“For me, the House has no place to disobey the order of the impeachment court. This is not a bicameral (conference committee) that we need to agree. This is an order from the impeachment court,” he reiterated.
Sought for comment regarding Hontiveros’ remarks, Dela Rosa denied that what happened was all planned.
“Scripted? Senators Robin Padilla and Joel Villanueva almost came to blows. Is that the script that you would want? A fistfight?” Dela Rosa said.
“Some of those who voted [with me] were against my motion for the outright dismissal of the case. But I did not insist on my motion,” he noted.
The ‘18-5’ signal
Meanwhile, former Solicitor General Florin Hilbay weighed in on the controversy, saying the Senate impeachment would have “no choice but to proceed with trial” should the House decide to reject its order.
“Impeachment is a political process, and this step taken by the Senate, though novel, fits the nature of that process. Ultimately, all remedies are political and could very well be in the direct hands of the people themselves,” Hilbay said in a post on social media.
“The 18-5 vote of the Senate is also a potential signal to the House of the kind of political climate it faces if it decides to pursue the impeachment,” he added.
