Senate President Vicente Sotto III on Monday said the impeachment trial against Vice President Sara Duterte once the Articles of Impeachment are transmitted to the Senate may have to start by the middle to the end of June this year.
In an interview with radio dzBB, Sotto said the Senate sitting as an impeachment court will have to take a “reasonable time” since the proper steps have to be done before they can start with the trial.
Once the Articles of Impeachment are transmitted to the Senate, Sotto said he will report it out on the plenary that the Senate has received the complaints approved by the House of Representatives, and forward them to the Senate’s Bills and Index Service, and will refer the same to the Committee on Rules.
After that, he said that he will convene the impeachment court a day when senators will take their oath as impeachment court judges.
“Ang ibig nilang sabihin doon sa within reasonable time…is the trial proper, not the convening. Ang forthwith sa akin na dapat eh itawag mo agad. Ngayon, the trial proper is within reasonable time
(What they [Supreme Court] mean in the term “within reasonable time’ ..is the trial proper not the convening. To me, forthwith would mean that you immediately convene. Now, trial proper is within reasonable time),” he said.
When the Senate convenes as an impeachment court, Sotto said they will give a copy of the complaints to Duterte who will be given 10 non-extendible working days to comment.
“And then kapag natanggap ninyo, bibigay niyo sa prosecution para sumagot and give them five working days non-extendable. Yun ang proseso. So, yan ang within reasonable time
(And then if they receive them [the Articles of Impeachment], copies of the same will be given to the prosecution and give them five working days non-extendible [to reply]. That’s the process. So, that’s within reasonable time),” he said.
“And then pag natanggap niyo lahat ito, pwede na kayong mag pre-trial (And after the concerned parties have received them, we can now conduct the pre-trial),” he added.
Sotto said the pre-trial stage is important in order to have smooth proceedings, as he recalled that during the impeachment trial of former Chief Justice Renato Corona, the proceedings were chaotic since it did not have a pre-trial.
Sotto said the late Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile was the presiding judge during the Corona trial, while he was the majority leader.
“Dapat mag pre-trial because I learned… the experience we had in the Corona impeachment. Natanggap namin ng December, Chief Justice nagpadala ng December 26 ng sagot, January 16 kami nag-umpisa ng trial proper, pagdating ng February nagkagulo sa presentasyon kasi walang pre-trial
(We should have a pre-trial because I learned…the experience we had in the Corona impeachment. We received the Articles of Impeachment on December 26 (2011), the Chief Justice sent his response on December 26 (2011), we started the trial proper February (2012), but when February came, the trial was not in order because we did not have a pre-trial),” he said.
He said the pre-trial will commence after all the parties have transmitted their submissions or stipulations.
“Kasi sa pre-trial dapat may marking of evidence, determination of witnesses para ma-expedite naman natin ang kaso and manage the court…Sa tancha natin, wag lang magtatagal ang pre-trial, middle of June or at least last week of June trial proper na
(Because there will be marking of evidence during the pre-trial period, determination of witnesses, so we can expedite the case and manage the court…To my estimate, the trial proper will be in middle of June or at least last week of June if the pre-trial goes smoothly),” he added.
He said Duterte is not obliged to physically attend the trial, but is advisable that she does.
SENATE LEADERSHIP
Sen. Erwin Tulfo said he is confident that Sotto will be retained as Senate President amid a possible scenario of a change in leadership so the impeachment trial will not push through.
Tulfo said the country is facing a lot of problems due to the Middle East conflict and it is improper to oust a sitting Senate leader at this time.
“I mean we have a lot of problems…Huwag na nating unahin ang ating sarili, ang ating partido, yung interes ng mga yan. Dapat ang interes ng tao muna
(I mean we have a lot of problems…Let us not put ourselves, our party, and the interests of a few in front of us. We should prioritize the peoples’ interest),” he said in a chance interview.
Talks of a change in Senate leadership always surface each time Congress resumes regular session.
Former Senate president Aquilino Pimentel III, in a radio interview on Sunday, said senators who would want to block the impeachment trial of Duterte may to wrest the leadership since Sotto was firm that the upper chamber will act “forthwith” once the Articles of Impeachment are transmitted to the Senate.
Besides, Tulfo said those who may want to oust Sotto do not have enough numbers.