Duterte impeachment to reach evidence stage absent jurisdictional defect - Cayetano
Metro Manila, Philippines - Senator Alan Peter Cayetano said the Impeachment Court must first resolve constitutional or jurisdictional issues before moving on to the presentation of evidence in Vice President Sara Duterte’s trial.
This was his response to whether there’s an assurance that evidence would be presented, amid fears of an outright dismissal.
“Kahit saang korte, bago mo ipalatag ‘yung ebidensya, titignan mo muna may jurisdiction ba yung korte na ‘yan o hindi,” Cayetano told reporters on Thursday, June 26.
[Translation: In any court, before you present the evidence, you first have to determine whether that court has jurisdiction or not.]
“So I can only assure the public na aabot tayo sa ebidensya [that we will reach the evidence stage] if the whole impeachment court says na wala tong fatal [that there is no] constitutional defect that takes out jurisdiction from the court,” he said, calling it the “logical” thing to do.
In her answer filed ad cautelam (with caution), Duterte argued that the complaint violated the Constitution’s one-year bar on initiating multiple impeachment cases, and sought its outright dismissal.
Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero, the court presiding officer, earlier said the defense may raise this motion during trial, which would require a simple majority - or at least 13 senator-judges - to resolve.
Cayetano, however, said there’s no reason to “panic” even if the case is dismissed this way.
“What’s the worst case? The worst case, they can file another one after the one-year (ban),” he said.
“I'm not telling you what will happen. I'm not telling you yung stand ko. What I'm telling you is the possibilities. That's just the reality,” he added.
He added that, ultimately, it will be up to the Supreme Court to rule on the constitutional questions. Duterte has a pending petition asking the high court to nullify the impeachment complaint and stop the proceedings, but no ruling has been issued so far.
