What ‘clamor’? Chiz asks amid calls to start trial ‘forthwith’
- Parsing the word “clamor,” Senate President Chiz Escudero insists there is no such public call for the Senate to start the impeachment trial, which should begin, he says, when Congress is back on June 2.
- Escudero, a lawyer, maintained that the Senate could not constitute itself as an impeachment court unless President Marcos orders a special session.
- As to the petition filed on Feb 14 asking the Supreme Court to compel the Senate to immediately form into an impeachment court, and to the two later petitions opposing such proceedings, Escudero said it would be up to him and his 22 fellow senators to decide whether to follow the court’s ruling.
Three letters and a Supreme Court petition do not a “clamor” make.
Senate President Francis Escudero on Wednesday stood firm on his position to wait for the resumption of congressional session on June 2 before holding the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.
Escudero said he did not think the Senate would be compelled to act much earlier, amid calls from various legal experts, politicians and civil society leaders for the chamber to already constitute itself into an impeachment court.
“What clamor? From who?” Escudero asked during a press briefing on Wednesday. “One case has been filed (in the Supreme Court) while three letters have been sent to me. Is that ‘clamor?’ I don’t think so.”
Since the House of Representatives transmitted the articles of impeachment to the Senate on Feb. 5, his office has so far received three position papers urging the senators to immediately start Duterte’s trial, he said.
The latest was submitted on Wednesday by former Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares, who echoed the argument made by Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III that, under the 1987 Constitution, the Senate “shall forthwith proceed” with the trial upon receipt of the complaint. Pimentel raised this point in a letter to Escudero on Feb. 14.
On Monday, the group 1Sambayan, led by retired Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, also asked Escudero to start preparing for the impeachment proceedings.
Jesus comparison
But the Senate leader said: “In what book does it say that if one case has been filed, there’s already a clamor? Should there be five, 10, 15 or 20 cases filed before we call it ‘clamor’?”
“I don’t define that as ‘clamor.’ (But) there are people asking for it,” he said. “How many cases should be filed and how many letters should be sent to me before we call it a clamor? I don’t know the answer to that question.”
“If we go back during time of Jesus, there was a clamor to crucify Him. It did not mean that it was the right thing to do,” he said.
Escudero, a lawyer, maintained that the Senate could not constitute itself as an impeachment court unless President Marcos orders a special session, an option that former Senate President Franklin Drilon earlier suggested.
On SC petitions
As to the petition filed on Feb 14 asking the Supreme Court to compel the Senate to immediately form into an impeachment court, and to the two later petitions opposing such proceedings, Escudero said it would be up to him and his 22 fellow senators to decide whether to follow the court’s ruling.
He recalled that the House once defied the high tribunal’s decision that stopped that chamber from pursuing the impeachment of then Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. in 2003.
“For me, we should comply with the (Supreme Court’s order) unless a (senator) questions it and puts it to a vote,” he said, adding:
“The decision of the presiding officer is not final. It’s the decision of the impeachment court as a body that will be final, whether I agree or not. But if you ask me, we should follow the Supreme Court’s decision on this matter as a general rule.”
Venue, equipment checked
While sticking to the timeline that sets the trial after June 2, Escudero said, the Senate had actually started preparing for the historic proceedings — starting with the venue.
He said an inspection had been conducted on the equipment to be used by the senator-judges, including the witness stand that was last used during the impeachment trial of the late Chief Justice Renato Corona in 2012.
By his own estimate, he said, the chamber would not spend more than P1 million for the setup and other requirements of trial.
