Chiz: Impeachment calendar needs senators’ nod

MANILA, Philippines — The timetable proposed by Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero for the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte is “not set in stone,” he said yesterday.

“This just serves as a suggested schedule from the Senate’s legal team, sent to all senators as their advance notice for them to study. We will act on it when we resume the session,” Escudero said over Radyo 630.

He said senators will vote on his proposed timeline when session resumes on June 2.

Escudero scoffed at criticism that the Senate is not acting on the impeachment complaint with urgency.

“We have long approved our legislative calendar. So why should we change that just because of an impeachment complaint?” he said.

In an interview with reporters in San Jose del Monte in Bulacan, Senate Majority Leader Francis Tolentino said Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III, who is pushing for an immediate impeachment trial, could be appointed as the temporary chairman of the committee on rules to draft the impeachment rules. Tolentino chairs the committee.

“He’s a member of the committee on rules. If he wants, he could be appointed as the temporary chairman of the committee on rules, so he can create the rules and establish subcommittees if he wishes. It seems like he’s volunteering for it,” Tolentino said, referring to Pimentel.

He said the committee can hold hearings on the drafting of rules even if Congress is on recess.

“It’s just a committee hearing. Whatever report the committee produces will have to be approved by the plenary. If Senator Pimentel is volunteering, he should start drafting it,” he said.

House impeach secretariat

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives has formally established an impeachment secretariat to provide technical and administrative support to public prosecutors in the impeachment trial, House secretary general Reginald Velasco said yesterday.

“The House Secretariat plays a vital role in ensuring the orderly conduct of legislative proceedings, including impeachment trials,” Velasco said in Memorandum Order 19-1006 dated Feb. 26, but released to the media yesterday.

On Thursday, Escudero released his proposed calendar for the impeachment trial, starting with the presentation of the Articles of Impeachment on June 2 and commencement of trial on July 30.

To comprise the Impeachment Secretariat are personnel from key House departments, including the Office of the Secretary General, Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms, Legislative Operations Department, Legal Affairs Department and other relevant units, according to Velasco.

Its functions will include plenary support, legal research, records management, stenographic transcription, information technology, security and administrative coordination, he added.

“This directive ensures that the prosecution team has access to essential logistical, research and documentation support to facilitate a smooth and efficient trial process,” the House secretary general said.

Velasco emphasized that the assigned personnel will adhere to strict House rules and ethical guidelines, ensuring transparency and professionalism throughout the process.

“This is a routine function aligned with our constitutional duty. The House Secretariat remains neutral and professional in fulfilling its mandate,” he said.

To ensure accountability, all personnel assigned to the Secretariat will record their attendance through the designated House Pass monitoring system and their schedules managed by their respective offices, Velasco said.

“As the impeachment process moves forward, the Impeachment Secretariat will continue to provide the necessary support to uphold the integrity of the proceedings,” he said.

Leadership call

But with most of the senators unavailable or busy with other pursuits, whatever unfolds in the coming weeks concerning the impeachment process would be a “leadership call,” according to La Union 1st district Rep. Paolo Ortega V.

“It’s a testament to the leadership and I don’t see myself intervening in the process and how they run the Senate. I am not a senator. So, my answer is simple. My answer is encompassing, it is a leadership call,” Ortega said at a press briefing when asked about possible scenarios in the runup to the impeachment trial.

“As I have said, it is a leadership call. The ball is now in the Senate,” Ortega said.

Manila 3rd district Rep. Joel Chua, a member of the House prosecution panel, underscored the importance of impeachment trial as a tool for accountability.

“The issue here is accountability. What we are talking about here is not our money, but the money of the people. That is why this should be given priority by the lawmakers,” Chua said.

He also called on the senators to heed the call of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) for greater focus on accountability in the impeachment trial.

He emphasized that the Constitution itself mandates that the impeachment trial must proceed immediately.

“The Filipino people are the ones who wrote the Constitution. When we read the Constitution, you would see in the Constitution, the Preamble, ‘We, the Filipino people, imploring the aid of Almighty God,’ and we could see here that the author of the Constitution are the Filipino people. There are no other,” Chua said.

He warned that delaying the impeachment trial might provide an opportunity for some groups to tamper evidence or intimidate witnesses.

“Of course, we respect our Senate president, but we want the impeachment trial to start because we also look to the pieces of evidence that we have gathered and the tampering of evidence, that’s one of them,” Chua said.

“Second, as time passes by and the impeachment is taking too long to start, many of our witnesses may have second thoughts or fear to testify,” he added.

He maintained that members of the prosecution panel may consider voicing their concerns in a letter to the Senate leadership.

“We will discuss that among my colleagues in the prosecution panel of the House. I mentioned that because that is what the House prosecutors consider and worry about,” Chua said. — Cecille Suerte Felipe