House reply to impeachment court expected in mid-July, senator says

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Tuesday evening said the House of Representatives of the 20th Congress is expected to decide on whether to continue the impeachment case of Vice President Sara Duterte by mid-July.

“They (House of Representatives) will only communicate when the 20th Congress assumes, which is June 30, kasi yun ang palitan. So they have to communicate. But of course, ang House may sarili silang dynamics. Di ba wala pang Speaker at that time. Nagbubuo pa lang sila doon,” Gatchalian said.

(The House of Representatives will only communicate when the 20th Congress assumes, which is June 30, kasi yun ang palitan. So they have to communicate. But the House has its own dynamics. They have no Speaker at that time.)

“Realistically, siguro makakapagpadala sila ng letter dito siguro pag buo na sila siguro mid-July (Realistically, they would send the letter once they are complete by mid-July),” he added.

Earlier today, the Senate, sitting as an impeachment court, voted to return to the House of Representatives the articles of impeachment against Duterte without dismissing or terminating them.

This came after Senator Ronald dela Rosa moved that the impeachment court dismiss the case against Sara Duterte.

He said the House of Representatives violated the one-year ban indicated in Article XI, Section 2, paragraph 5 of the Constitution.

However, Senator Alan Peter Cayetano moved to amend Dela Rosa's motion that the articles of impeachment be returned to the House of Representatives without dismissing or terminating the case until such time that:

The House of Representatives certify to the non violation of Article XI, Section 3, paragraph 5 of the Constitution, which provides that “No impeachment proceedings shall be initiated against the same official more than once within a period of one year; include the circumstances on the filing of the first three impeachment complaints; and

The House of Representatives of the 20th Congress communicates to the Senate that it is willing and ready to pursue the impeachment complaint against the Vice President.

With the motion approved, there would be no more presentation of prosecution on Wednesday.

Still, Escudero, as the presiding officer of the impeachment court, issued a writ of summons to Sara Duterte, directing the Vice President to file her answers within 10 days. — BAP, GMA Integrated News