Monsod: Senate’s job is to hold impeachment trial, not determine constitutionality

Following the Senate’s decision to return the articles of impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte to the House of Representatives, Atty. Christian Monsod, who is one of the framers of the 1987 Constitution, maintained that the Senate is constitutionally bound to "proceed" with the trial.

“Ang job lang ng Senate, according to the Constitution, is to hold a trial. Maliwanag ‘yun, diba? They must proceed, forthwith proceed, with the trial,” Monsod said on Super Radyo dzBB on Wednesday.

(The job of the Senate according to the Constitution is only to hold a trial. That’s clear, right? They must proceed, forthwith proceed, with the trial.)

Monsod said the Senate is seemingly “delaying” the trial.

"Why are they raising that? In order to parang delay the trial. What are they afraid of? " he asked.

"Because in the trial, then the charges against the vice president will be discussed, will be presented by the House and they can ask all the questions they want,” added Monsod.

Last night, 18 senators voted for the return of the articles of impeachment while five voted against it. The senators are asking the House to certify the non violation of the one-year ban on impeachment complaints.

Monsod, however, stressed that determining the complaint’s constitutionality is not the Senate’s role, saying that Duterte has already filed a petition before the Supreme Court (SC) against the validity and constitutionality of the complaint against her. 

“It is not for the Senate to determine whether it’s constitutional or not. And it’s the SC. There is no ruling yet from the SC,” he said.

Those who voted yes include Senate President Chiz Escudero, Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa, Sen. Robin Padilla, Sen. Christopher Lawrence "Bong" Go, Senate Majority Leader Francis Tolentino, Sen. Imee Marcos, Sen. Cynthia Villar, Sen. Mark Villar, Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada, Sen. JV Ejercito, Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr., Sen. Joel Villanueva, Sen. Lito Lapid, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, Sen. Pia Cayetano, Sen. Loren Legarda, Sen. Raffy Tulfo, and Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri.

The negative votes came from Minority Leader Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III, Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros, Sen. Grace Poe, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, and Sen. Nancy Binay.

Neutrality

Meanwhile, lawyer Audi Bucoy, a member of the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG), echoed Monsod’s sentiment, saying the Senate’s move is against the Constitution.

Bucoy stressed that the grounds for dismissal mentioned by the Senate should be raised by the impeached official. 

“Ang obserbasyon ko sa argumento sa Senado, ito hong mga ilan na senator-judges now, they're playing the part of [advocates] for the impeached officer. Trabaho po ‘yan ng defense counsel, hindi ng huwes,” he said.

(My observation on the arguments in the Senate is that some of the senator-judges now are playing the part of advocates for the impeached officer. That is the job of the defense counsel, not of the judge.)

“They should have the cold neutrality of an impartial judge. ‘Yan po ‘yung pinanumpaan nila when they were convened as a court,” he added.

(They should have the cold neutrality of an impartial judge. That is what they swore to uphold when they were convened as a court.) —VAL, GMA Integrated News