Sara Duterte: We can’t inhibit senators from impeachment trial based on bias

Vice President Sara Duterte said Monday that senator-judges should not be urged to recuse themselves from the impeachment trial solely based on their political bias. 

Duterte said this at a press briefing in Davao City amid calls that her allies in the Senate, such as Senators Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, Imee Marcos, and Robin Padilla, should inhibit themselves from sitting as senator-judges in the trial. 

If that would be the case, the Vice President said, then those who are not in favor of her, including Senator Risa Hontiveros, should then also be barred from the impeachment trial. 

“Hindi kasi tayo pwedeng magpa-inhibit ng mga senator-judges based on bias dahil ang posisyon lang naman ng isang tao is you are for or against Inday Sara,” Duterte said. 

(We cannot inhibit senators-judges based on bias because their position is only whether they are for or against Inday Sara.) 

“Kung ganon ang ating basehan sa inhibition ay dapat din nating ipa-inhibit ang mga senators na meron ding bias against Sara Duterte, tulad na lang ni Senator Risa Hontiveros na in a public speech, sinabi niya na kailangan talagang…burahin or kailangang wasakin, sirain o gibain ang pamilyang Duterte,” she added. 

(If that is our basis for inhibition, we should also inhibit the senators who also have a bias against Sara Duterte, like Senator Risa Hontiveros, who in a public speech said that the Duterte family should be destroyed.) 

The Vice President said that the senators should be given the benefit of the doubt that they will properly do their jobs as judges in the trial. 

“Kung ganon na magpa-inhibit tayo based on bias ay madaming senador na ipapa-inhibit for or against Sara Duterte. Kaya sinasabi ko, ibigay na natin ang benefit of the doubt sa mga senator-judges na gagawin nila ang trabaho nila nang patas according to sa sinumpaan nila as senator-judges,” Duterte explained.

(If we inhibit based on bias, many senators for or against Sara Duterte will be inhibited. That's why I’m saying that let's give them the benefit of the doubt that they will do their job fairly according to the oath they took as senator-judges.) 

For San Juan City Representative Ysabel "Belle" Zamora, who is one of the House prosecutors for the Vice President’s impeachment trial, recusal should be voluntary.

"Under Rules of Court in ordinary cases, parties may move for the inhibition of a judge based on relationship. For example, if the judge is related to the parties or to the counsel, then the lawyers may move for recusal of the judge. But it is really up to the judge to voluntarily inhibit himself or recuse himself from proceeding with trial," she said. 

"I believe we will adapt the same in this impeachment trial. It should be the senator judges who will [have to] voluntarily inhibit themselves upon showing that they exhibited partiality or bias in favor of the Vice President," Zamora added.

Asked if that means the House is unlikely to seek the inhibition of senator-judges they deem partial to the Vice President, Zamora said seeking inhibition remains on the table alongside other options that would foster the impeachment trial to proceed. 

"We are discussing that but we don't want to give any further reason for the other side to say or to accuse the House prosecution of any delay in the impeachment trial," she added.

Zamora also said that senators who have voted against the return of the Articles of Impeachment to the House of Representatives should not be seen as partial to the prosecution but rather partial to the legal processes in place. 

“Senator Hontiveros...[and] the five senator judges have not shown any bias against the Vice President. What I believe is that they have shown adherence to the Constitution and to the Senate impeachment rules,” Zamora said.

“Just because they voted against that motion to remand [the Articles of Impeachment to the House] does not mean that they are against the Vice President. It just means that they are following the Constitution, they are following rules and that they want to see the evidence to be presented before the senator-judges and before the public,” she added.

GMA News Online asked Hontiveros’ office for comment. 

The House of Representatives 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 tackling the impeachment case.

Duterte was accused of betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the constitution, graft and corruption, and other high crimes.

The Senate, sitting as an impeachment court, last Tuesday voted 18-5 to bring Duterte’s case back to the lower chamber without dismissing or terminating it. —AOL/BM, GMA Integrated News