Senators back starting Sara trial Aug. 4, a week after Marcos Sona
Some senators are supportive of a proposal to start the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte on Aug. 4, or a week after President Marcos’ fourth State of the Nation Address (Sona), one of them said on Wednesday.
Duterte, through a spokesperson, said also on Wednesday that she was ready to face trial, which has already been delayed for five months, even as she awaits the Supreme Court decision on her petition to have the impeachment case dismissed.
Sen. Joel Villanueva said informal talks had been held with Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero, with four to six senators agreeing to an Aug. 4 start.
Villanueva said this schedule would give the chamber time to decide matters like the Senate leadership, committee chairmanships and housekeeping concerns.
“It looks like we are going to wait for one week to organize ourselves as a Senate, including the committees, etc. and the [House of Representatives] as well. And then the week after, we can convene the impeachment court and have the defense and the prosecution present their cases,” Villanueva said.
“If Sona is [on July] 28, we are looking at the week after. [On] Aug. 4,” Villanueva said at the Kapihan sa Manila Bay media forum.
7 new senator-judges
Villanueva also said the incoming senators, or those who won in the midterm polls in May, would be taking their oath as senator-judges on the same day.
They are Senators Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV, Erwin Tulfo, Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, Rodante Marcoleta, Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, Tito Sotto III, and Camille Villar.
House prosecutors and Duterte’s defense team will also be expected to face each other for the first time in court that day, he added.
Escudero earlier proposed that the oathtaking of new senator-judges be held on July 29, and the start of trial on July 30.
He also said at the time that the Senate was hoping to stick to this schedule and that it “will not tolerate any dilatory motion or pleading,” since the prosecution and defense would have ample time to prepare.
Eager and ready
Also on Wednesday, the Office of the Vice President (OVP) said Duterte was “eager” to finally face the impeachment court.
This was despite her pending petition to have the impeachment case dismissed by the Supreme Court for allegedly violating the ban on the filing of more than one complaint against the same official within a year.
OVP spokesperson Ruth Castelo made a statement about Duterte’s readiness in reaction to the latest Social Weather Stations survey showing that 66 percent of Filipinos believe the Vice President should face the music.
“The Vice President is ready. She’s been saying that. And she’s eager to be able to present her case or her evidence in the impeachment court so that once and for all, all doubts cast on her will go away,” Castelo said
But Castelo noted that Duterte’s legal team availed of the legal remedies available prior to trial, referring to the petition at the Supreme Court.
“So we’ll wait, the Vice President will just wait for whatever decision the Supreme Court issues on this one. And should the impeachment trial go as planned, the Vice President is still there,” Castelo said.
Response to SC
Meanwhile, the Senate impeachment court had informed the Supreme Court that it still lacked sufficient knowledge or information related to Duterte’s impeachment case.
In a manifestation ad cautelam filed on July 15, the body said it could not comply with the July 8 en banc resolution requiring information on the matter.
The high court earlier ordered the Senate impeachment court to provide information regarding the date and status of the first three impeachment complaints filed against Duterte at the House.
It also asked whether the complaints were properly endorsed and transmitted in a timely manner; who prepared the articles of impeachment; and whether all House members received, reviewed and voted on the charges and evidence.
The Senate impeachment court said the details requested by the Supreme Court were the very same information it had asked of the House, and that the House may be in a better position to give them. —WITH A REPORT FROM TETCH TORRES-TUPAS
