Senate court may proceed with VP Sara impeachment trial sans SC TRO

The Senate impeachment court may proceed with the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte unless the Supreme Court orders it to stop, House members said on Monday.

Manila Rep. Joel Chua and Bicol Saro party-list Rep. Terry Ridon, both lawyers, made the remarks in connection with the pending petitions the Vice President and her allies filed to ask the High Tribunal to declare the impeachment complaint against her void.

The petitioners alleged that for violating the one-year bar rule which only allows one complaint filed per impeachable official in a year as provided by the Constitution.

 The Supreme Court earlier ordered the House and the Senate to comment on the Vice President and her allies’ petitions.

“Maliwanag naman po ‘yung hinihingi ng Supreme Court. Ito po ay parte ng pag-resolba sa issue po na ibinato sa kanila," Chua said at a press conference.

"And the House can comply with what the Supreme Court is asking from us. And rest assured that this Supreme Court order won’t affect the pending impeachment complaint lodged against the Vice President,” he added.

(What the Supreme Court is asking from us is clear, and this is part of the process of resolving a legal issue brought to them.)

“Wala pong dahilan para antayin ng Senado kung ano po magiging desisyon ng Korte Suprema dahil wala namang po TRO na nilalabas [ang Supreme Court]. Sa ngayon, dapat po mag-proceed pa rin po ang trial hanggang hindi po ito pinapahinto ng Korte Suprema,” Chua said.

(The Senate has no reason for the Supreme Court to wait for a TRO. Since the SC has not issued a TRO at this point, the impeachment trial should proceed until such time that the SC issues a TRO.)

Ridon said that the House’s position that the impeachment complaint filed against the Vice President is legal is anchored on at least two solid grounds: the Supreme Court decisions on Francisco v. House of Representatives and Gutierrez v. House of Representatives, wherein the High Court ruled that:

• the initiation of an impeachment complaint only happens after the House of Representatives Secretary General refers the impeachment complaint to the Office of the Speaker and the same complaint is referred to the House Committee on Justice for deliberations; and
• the impeachment complaint can be sent directly to the Senate so it can forthwith proceed to trial as long as at least one-third of the House members signed off on the same impeachment complaint.

“These are the parts of the Francisco and Gutierrez SC rulings that set the requirements to determine if the one-year bar rule was complied with," Ridon said.

"Hindi po ito pwede gamitin ng Senate impeachment court na dahilan para hindi po ituloy ang kanilang constitutional mandate to try and decide the impeachment case of Vice President Sara Duterte,” he added.

(The Senate cannot use these pending petitions before the High Court as an excuse not to fulfill their mandate to try and decide the  impeachment case of the Vice President.) –NB, GMA Integrated News