Luistro challenges Bato to attend Sara Duterte impeachment trial in Senate

Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa should display even more courage in risking his liberty so that he can personally participate in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte in the Senate, House lead prosecutor and Batangas 2nd District Representative Gerville Luistro said Friday.

Luistro made the position when asked if the proposed online voting should be allowed for the impeachment trial and all other Senate proceedings, a proposal put forward by Dela Rosa's allies in the Senate amid government efforts to enforce an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

"This discussion [on proposed online voting] originated from the case of Senator Bato. To be very specific, this is my answer that: If Senator Bato risked his liberty when he voted for the change of leadership, remember, he must be able to show more courage in risking his liberty as well in responding to the Constitution and that is by being present during the impeachment trial," Luistro said in a Super Radyo dzBB interview.

After six months of being away from the public eye, Dela Rosa resurfaced at the Senate on May 11 and cast his vote to install Senator Alan Peter Cayetano as the new Senate President.

It was also on this day that Dela Rosa evaded agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) inside the Senate premises, and that the ICC publicly confirmed that it had indeed issued the arrest warrant against Dela Rosa.

Dela Rosa soon left the protective custody of the Senate hours after the May 13 shooting incident between Senate security and NBI agents.

On Tuesday evening, members of the new Senate minority walked out after the majority introduced a motion that would allow senators to participate in sessions remotely.

The minority was up in arms that, aside from violating the Rules of the Senate, the move would benefit Dela Rosa and other senators who may soon land in jail.

"It is important that the Senator judges must personally witness the presentation of evidence because the demeanor of the witnesses are very important," Luistro said.

"It is only by way of observing the demeanor of the witnesses that you can honestly say, totoo ba o hindi ang sinasabi niya (is the witness speaking the truth or not)," Luistro added.

Luistro then said that showing up in person to cast his vote on the impeachment trial of the Vice President is Dela Rosa's constitutional duty to the people who elected him to public office.

"After the presentation of this witness, the more reason that he should be present in casting his vote because this is his constitutional duty to the Filipino people. Remember this is a sovereign power that was given to the Filipino people and we are the prosecutors merely representing them in the discharge of this function," Luistro said.

"This is a very solemn, a very sacred process that all public officials whether they are Senator-judges or prosecutors must be personally present," Luistro added.

In closing, Luistro said in-person voting is also provided under the Senate rules on impeachment.

"The Senate rules on impeachment is clear: Only during force majeure (Act of God) and national emergency that online voting must be allowed, and this happened during COVID-19," Luistro added.

Minority senators have made similar assertions that the Senate only allowed virtual sessions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

'Sacred, solemn'

Meanwhile, Luistro said she and other impeachment prosecutors oppose remote participation in the Senate impeachment trial.

"Wala namang formal talks but at least for the prosecutors, informally ha, we are not amenable to that (There are no formal talks but at least for the prosecutors, informally, we are not amenable to that) because we understand that this is a constitutional process. This is very sacred, this is very solemn. It concerns already the interest of the entire Philippine nation and that is why our submission is the senator judges should be physically present. They should witness the presentation of evidence because they need to see the demeanor of all these witnesses for them to decide whether the witnesses are telling the truth or otherwise," Luistro said in an online interview.

"And if they are present during the presentation of witness, the more reason that they should be present during the casting of vote because that is a constitutional duty to the sovereign Filipino people," she added.

Luistro also cited the rules of the Senate where remote participation is allowed only in very select instances.

"So naririnig ko si Senator [Franklin] Drilon, our former Senate president (So I heard that Senator Drilon, our former Senate president), he's even commenting, by force majeure, it means there's impossibility already for the Senate to convene. Wala naman 'yung impossibility na 'yun (That impossibility isn't the status now). So I think we have all the reasons to push for the senator-judges to be personally present in the impeachment trial if this concerns the impeachment trial," she explained.

When asked if the impeachment prosecutors were unanimous in this stand, Luistro replied, "Well, I haven't talked to all of them on that issue. But at least, I think majority shares the same opinion."

Impeachment prosecutors who have also expressed opposition to remote participation in the impeachment trial include Representatives Joel Chua and Lordan Suan. — VDV, GMA News