Escudero, Sotto clash over impeachment, charter change

Metro Manila, Philippines - Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero and Minority Leader Vicente “Tito” Sotto traded barbs over the voided impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte and talks to revive charter change.

In a social media post over the weekend, Escudero criticized Sotto after the latter expressed openness to pursuing constitutional amendments if the Supreme Court does not reverse its ruling on Duterte’s impeachment - an outcome Sotto believed effectively altered the Constitution.

“Easy lang po… Kinampihan na nga po ninyo ang impeachment ng HOR [House of Representatives] at ni Speaker Martin maski sabi ng SC UNCONSTITUTIONAL… ngayon naman po kinakampihan na din nyo ang ChaCha [charter change] ng HOR at ni Speaker Romualdez,” Escudero wrote.

[Translation: Take it easy… You already sided with the impeachment pushed by the House of Representatives and Speaker Martin even though the Supreme Court declared it UNCONSTITUTIONAL… and now you’re also siding with the House’s and Speaker Romualdez’s Charter Change initiative.]

Escudero ended his post with the hashtag: #thesenateisinotyourplayground, echoing his criticism during the impeachment debates, when he accused the House of Representatives of politicking in impeaching Duterte.

Sotto denied the alleged partiality and accused the Senate leader of taking sides.

“Wala akong kinakampihan tulad nila. Ang kinakampihan ko ay ang Konstitusyon,” Sotto said in a statement on Monday, August 11.

[Translation: I’m not taking sides like they are. I stand with the Constitution.]

Sotto clarified that his concern stemmed from the implications of the Supreme Court decision.

“What I said was, if the SC ruling stands as is and the Constitution is amended by merely a SC decision, then I will consider supporting a Constituent Assembly or a Constitutional Convention to rewrite Article XI of the Constitution because the requirements written in the SC decision [are] impossible to meet,” he explained in a text message to reporters.

At the heart of the debate is a constitutional provision stating that “no impeachment proceedings shall be initiated against the same official more than once within a period of one year.”

This clause led the Supreme Court to strike down the fourth impeachment complaint filed against Duterte, declaring it unconstitutional. Critics of the decision, including Sotto and several legal experts, argued that the court redefined the term “initiated” to mean the mere filing of a complaint, rather than formal House action such as its referral to the Order of Business or the committee on justice.

Last week, the Senate voted 19-4-1 to archive the impeachment case as the Supreme Court has yet to decide on the motions for reconsideration filed against its ruling.