Metro Manila, Philippines – Makabayan lawmakers supported the move of some senators who were trying to convince their colleagues not to immediately dismiss the impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte pending the finality of the Supreme Court ruling.
ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio and Kabataan Rep. Renee Co released a joint statement Sunday, Aug. 3, as the Senate was scheduled to hold a plenary vote on Aug. 6 to decide on the SC ruling that declared the impeachment of Duterte unconstitutional.
Sen. Kiko Pangilinan confirmed he coauthored the resolution calling for the reconsideration of the high court’s decision with fellow majority member Sen. Bam Aquino and Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros. Pangilinan said Senate Minority Leader Tito Sotto also signed it.
“We urge the Senate to consider not just the procedural grounds—since a motion for reconsideration has yet to be filed on the ruling—but more importantly, the substantive grounds that justice must be achieved in this major corruption case involving P612.5 million in confidential funds,” said Tinio and Co.
Tinio and Co — who were deputy minority leader and assistant minority leader at the House of Representatives, respectively — said the Senate’ s handling of the impeachment case “exposes a glaring double standard.”
“They were painfully slow to convene the impeachment court and begin the trial, taking six months to act, but now they are rushing to dismiss the case based on a ruling that is not even final,” they said.
On Saturday, the House also expressed “deep concern” over the scheduled Senate vote to decide on the SC ruling in Duterte’s impeachment trial, according to its spokesperson Princess Abante.
Abante stressed that the SC decision is not yet final as the House will file a motion for reconsideration “soon.” She argued that the House was the “body vested by the Constitution with the exclusive power and authority to initiate an impeachment.”
Some citizen-complainants in the first impeachment complaint against Duterte have also filed their motion for reconsideration on Aug. 1.
Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada estimated that at least 19 senators may vote to uphold the Supreme Court ruling.
READ: No more impeachment trial? Jinggoy counts 19-20 votes for SC ruling, Sotto says not so fast
“This rushed dismissal sets a dangerous precedent that makes impeachment as a means of holding the highest officials accountable even more difficult in the future,” Tinio and Co said, adding that this showed that corrupt officials could get away with technicalities and political maneuvering.
Abante earlier said that the integrity of the impeachment process must be preserved, calling on senators to “exercise prudence and patience, and allow the judicial process to reach its rightful conclusion.”
“For issues as transcendental as this—and especially when there appear to be factual errors upon which the legal conclusions were drawn—sheer prudence dictates that the Senate allow the Supreme Court to hear the House in its Motion for Reconsideration,” Abante said.
