Senate remands Sara impeach case to House

Instead of outright dismissal

MANILA, Philippines — Senators took their oaths last night as judges in an impeachment court that will try Vice President Sara Duterte for culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust, among other charges.

Later in the evening, the Senate, voting 18-5-0, decided to remand the Articles of Impeachment back to the House, with only Senators Koko Pimentel, Risa Hontiveros, Nancy Binay, Grace Poe and Sherwin Gatchalian voting against the motion.

Remanding was done instead of dismissing the Articles of Impeachment outright, as proposed by pro-Duterte senators. The move also seeks to clarify if the House still wants to proceed with the trial during the 19th Congress, which ends on June 30.

The 22 senator-judges donned Oxford crimson robes and took their oaths as members of the impeachment court, officially convening the body a day ahead of the original schedule.

They swore to uphold “impartial justice” in hearing the evidence and rendering their verdict.

Senate President Francis Escudero, as presiding chair, took his oath ahead of his colleagues, on Monday night.

He said the Impeachment Rules were not amended because he does not want them changed “in the middle of the game.”

The oath-taking and eventually the convening of the impeachment court took place even after Sen. Ronald Dela Rosa tried to block them during plenary session, citing “constitutional infirmities” in the Articles of Impeachment transmitted by the House of Representatives.

But this was shot down during session, with Sen. Joel Villanueva arguing the issue can only be taken up by the court.

Escudero agreed, as he suspended session to give way for the convening of the court and for the senators to put on their robes.

But before the court was called to session, during a break, Sen. Robin Padilla almost came to blows with Villanueva for the latter’s vehemently opposing Dela Rosa’s motion to dismiss the impeachment case.

Dela Rosa intervened to stop the agitated Padilla from coming near Villanueva, who just smiled and walked back.

Padilla later apologized to Villanueva, saying “tension is high” in the plenary. “I love you, pare,” Padilla told Villanueva during session.

Not in robes

While their colleagues wore their crimson robes, Senators Cynthia Villar, Imee Marcos and Padilla did not.

Villar said she was not able to have her robes fitted, while Padilla said his did not fit. Marcos said her office did not receive her robes.

After the convening of the impeachment court, Dela Rosa repeated his motion to dismiss the impeachment outright due to “constitutional infirmities,” citing the House of Representatives’ alleged move to circumvent the one-year bar on impeachment by directly transmitting – after one-thirds vote – an alleged fourth impeachment complaint.

Senators Bong Go and Padilla seconded Dela Rosa’s motion, saying the Senate should focus on passing more important pieces of legislation that address concrete issues, instead of tackling a politically-charged and divisive issue like impeachment.

Remanded to House

The debates on remanding the complaint back to House prosecutors stemmed from an inadvertent point in Go’s speech seconding Dela Rosa’s motion.

Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano highlighted Go’s point, saying Dela Rosa should amend his motion to dismiss into a motion to remand to the House of Representatives.

“Just hear me out on a very practical approach to this. One, we can dismiss it today. Two, we can remand it to the House. Or three, we can proceed tomorrow. But we need to decide,” he said.

The move to remand the impeachment complaint met strong opposition from Sens. Sherwin Gatchalian and Grace Poe, who expressed concerns that sending the complaint back would prematurely invalidate it and prevent the trial from proceeding.

Meanwhile, the House committee on good government yesterday recom[1]mended the filing of perjury, bribery and corruption against Duterte over the alleged misuse of P612.5-million confidential funds of the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education.

In its committee report 1503, presented by committee chairman and Manila 3rd district Rep. Joel Chua before the plenary, the filing of technicsal malversation, falsification and use of falsified documents and plunder, betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution against other erring officials was also recommended.

The plenary adopted the committee report.

“We want justice, not politics. Let us remand the case back to them, instead of politicizing it. Let us not resort to shortcuts to justice. Justice denied and done wrong is no justice at all,” Go said.

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III voiced opposition to the move, saying it would be “unconstitutional for the Senate to cut short the process by dismissing the impeachment complaint.”

He also said the Senate has to respect the move of the House to transmit the Articles of Impeachment after getting one-third vote of all its members.

“The people also want to know if the House acted justly. Because her reputation in public service was already tarnished, the trial will give that impeached official the chance to clear her name. This motion may be premature to entertain. Let’s wait for the answer to be filed by the impeached official,” He said.

Earlier yesterday, Escudero said there was no more stopping the impeachment court from convening today after the referral on Monday of the Articles of Impeachment to the rules committee and after his colleagues voted during plenary session to allow him to take his oath as impeachment court presiding officer.

“Whatever happens, it is my view that the impeachment court will convene. That is what we voted on yesterday (Monday). So that is what should happen before we adjourn” Escudero said in an ambush interview before yesterday’s session before the senators took their oaths.

He also said the senators’ oath-taking during plenary session yesterday only paved the way for “constituting” the court and not yet for “convening it.”

It is only “ceremonial” for the Articles of Impeachment to be forwarded to the rules committee, Escudero said, as he denied that the move could “kill” the case by letting it “sleep” in the committee.

“That is a technicality that I will not allow as the presiding officer. I don’t see that as a technicality that could stop the convening of the impeachment court,” Escudero said.