Sotto to sign Senate reso against quo warranto if....

Senate President Vicente Sotto III expressed readiness Thursday to sign the draft resolution insisting on the sole power of Congress to remove impeachable officials if his colleagues will be able to convince him during their deliberation on the floor.

“I am willing to vote for it if they will be able to convince me. Depende kung makumbinsi ako na tama ang laman ng resolution,” Sotto said during the weekly news forum Kapihan sa Senado.

He said he would listen to the arguments of both sides when Resolution 738 is put on the floor. A total of 14 senators have signed the said resolution.

“I would leave it on the floor, I would want them to listen to both sides before I infuse my opinion,” he said.

Among the signatories are Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, Senate Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto, Senators Aquilino Pimentel III, Antonio Trillanes IV, Risa Hontiveros, Paolo Benigno Aquino IV, Francis Pangilinan, Leila de Lima.

Senators Francis Escudero, Sherwin Gatchalian, Joel Villanueva, Grace Poe, Juan Edgardo Angara and Loren Legarda also affixed their signatures.

Interference 

Sotto said he did not sign the resolution because he does not want to be accused of interfering with the judiciary.

“To be very honest about it, I want to be neutral. My problem, really, the reason I didn’t sign, if they made me sign but no one approached me to make me sign. I would have said that wait I don’t want to be accused that we are interfering with the Judiciary. Because I never want the Judiciary to interfere with the Senate,” he said.

He said he believes the Supreme Court decision on quo warranto petition has nothing to do with the impeachment complaint against former Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.

“Kapag pinag-aralan mong mabuti wala namang kinalaman sa impeachment ‘yun, inihilig lang ng iba lalo na ‘yung mga may gusto ng impeachment, wala naman talagang kinalaman dun,” he said.

He cited as example the electoral protest against Vice President Leni Robredo which can be removed from her post if the Presidential Electoral Tribunal decides in favor of former Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

“Let me use the protest against Vice President Robredo, she may be removed by impeachment. Kung sinasabi natin, ini-insist natin na ang impeachable officer ay puwedeng paalisin by impeachment lang, paano kung ang protesta ni Sen. Marcos nanalo. Iimpeach natin si Robredo? Hindi, kasi in the first place hindi siya Vice President. It appears that the Senate has nothing to do with the quo warranto,” he said.

He added: “For example, President (Rodrigo) Duterte is not a Filipino citizen. What do you do? You impeach him? Iko-quo warranto mo siguro.”

He said the SC did not take the Senate’s right to impeach Sereno because the complaint is not yet filed before the chamber.

“Kasi kung hindi nila i-quo warranto, sa impeachment aakyat sa amin, puwede nating sabihin na inagaw sa amin. But the thing is she should be impeached first,” he said.

The House of Representatives has yet to decide on the impeachment complaint against Sereno. — RSJ, GMA News