Impeachment trial over campaign? Senators have own money, says Cynthia

Senator Cynthia Villar on Wednesday said it would be too much to ask senators who are running in Eleksyon 2025 to prioritize the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte over their respective electoral campaigns.

Asked to comment on Senate Minority Leader Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III's remark that senators should prioritize their duty before campaigning, Villar said, "Can you tell that to the senators? Can the Senate President tell that to the senators?"

"Baka sa House kaya kasi mayroon silang pakinabang, but the Senate, you don't buy the senators. They have their own money," Villar said during the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum.

(Maybe in the House that can happen because they'd benefit from it, but in the Senate, you don't buy senators. They have their own money.)

Already in their second consecutive terms as senators, Villar and Pimentel are both running for seats in the House of Representatives in Eleksyon 2025.

"I agree it's too much to ask the senators to come back and do impeachment while they are campaigning," Villar said.

Villar took exception to criticisms that the Senate was not acting immediately on the impeachment complaint, saying it was not right to expect senators to take it up when the complaint was transmitted to them on the last session day.

"What will you do? Last day of session o aalis na kami. So how can we tackle that? Bakit naman nila pinasa sa last day ng session? Bigla silang nag-decide na gusto nila ng impeachment tapos dadalhin sa amin last day of session they expect us to work on it eh recess na kami," Villar said.

(What will you do? It's the last day of the session and we're leaving. So how can we tackle that? Why did they transmit it on the last session day? They suddenly decided that they wanted to push through with the impeachment then they brought it to us on the last day of the session and they expect us to work on it but we are about to go into recess.)

"Out of schedule 'yun... Bakit hindi nila pinadala earlier?" she added.

(That's out of schedule...Why didn't they send it earlier?)

GMA News Online has requested a comment from House leadership regarding Villar's statements and will publish it as soon as it is available.

Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero has maintained that the Senate will only start the impeachment trial once the Senate is in session, citing previous cases of impeachment.

Escudero set the tentative start of the Duterte’s trial on July 30.

He earlier said he would proceed with the impeachment trial in accordance with the law and not because of public clamor.

Support for Chiz

In a separate press conference, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said that he supported Escudero's stand after reviewing the previous impeachment cases that were processed in the Senate.

"Sinabi ko sa kanya (Escudero), I support his stands. Ako, tinignan ko kasi mga past records. Tinignan ko yung impeachment case ni former President Erap (Estrada), Ombudsman (Merceditas) Gutierrez, at si CJ (Renato) Corona. All of those impeachment cases, nu'ng trinansmit dito 'yung Articles of Impeachment, binasa on the floor. And that's the procedure. And that is the precedent," Gatchalian said.

(I told him (Escudero), I support his stands. I looked at the past records. I looked at the impeachment cases of former President Erap (Estrada), Ombudsman (Merceditas) Gutierrez, and Chief Justice (Renato) Corona. In all of those impeachment cases, the Articles of Impeachment were read in the floor upon transmittal. And that's the procedure. And that is the precedent.)

"Dapat basahin sa floor para formally ma-inform 'yung body. Dahil kung hindi formally ma-inform 'yung body, hindi alam ng Senate members formally. In fact, ang only document na hawak-hawak ngayon ng Senado ay 'yung transmission ng Articles of Impeachment. But as to informing the Senators formally, wala pang nangyayaring ganyan na action. But because nga 'yung timing was off, binigay sa atin last day of the session day and a few hours na lang before adjournment, hindi na nabasa on the floor. So kung nabasa 'yan on the floor, then the process will start," he added.

(It should be read on the floor to formally inform the body. If not, the Senate members would not have knowledge about it. In fact, the only document that the Senate has is the transmission of the Articles of Impeachment. But as to informing the Senators formally, there has not been any action to that effect because the timing was off. It was given to us on the last session day and a few hours left before adjournment. It wasn't read on the floor. If it was read on the floor, then the process would start.)

The House impeached Duterte on February 5, with over 200 lawmakers endorsing the complaint. The Articles of Impeachment were transmitted to the Senate the same day, but the upper chamber adjourned without addressing the case.

Meanwhile, Duterte has filed a Supreme Court petition challenging the validity of the impeachment complaint.

Lawyers from Mindanao and others have also asked the SC to stop the trial, calling the complaint defective.

Another petition seeks to compel the Senate to convene as an impeachment court immediately. — VDV, GMA Integrated News

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