Tito: Chiz bushwhacked VP impeach complaint

MANILA, Philippines — The Senate leadership of Francis Escudero “bushwhacked” the impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte on the very day it was transmitted to the Senate, according to senator-elect Tito Sotto.

“The Articles of Impeachment were bushwhacked the day they arrived in the Senate on Feb. 5,” Sotto told The STAR yesterday.

This is because the complaint was not forwarded to the Senate’s rules committee when it was directly transmitted to the chamber on Feb. 5, the last session day before its four-month long break.

Having just resumed session on June 2, the impeachment complaint has yet to be read on the floor, after Escudero reset the House prosecution panel’s reading of charges to June 11, two days before the sine die adjournment.

“The Senate President did not refer it right away to the rules committee, which should have been the proper action to take. In fact, he has not done so until today,” Sotto added.

He said the Senate leadership has the option to use the remaining days of the 19th Congress to convene the impeachment court even after Congress has adjourned.

“The Senate may continue up to three days even if its counterpart has adjourned. That’s in the Constitution,” he said. “Then the Senate should have constituted itself as an impeachment court and decided what to do.”

Sotto questioned Escudero’s seeming unwillingness to try the impeachment case against Vice President Duterte on allegations that she misused millions of confidential funds and then threatened to kill President Marcos, First Lady Liza Marcos and Speaker Martin Romualdez.

“The Senate has not been known to cower in impeaching a president or a chief justice,” he said.

Sotto is eyeing to reclaim the Senate presidency in the upcoming 20th Congress from Escudero.

For his part, senator-elect Ping Lacson said he agreed with the position of Senate minority leader Koko Pimentel that the Senate is a continuing body that allows impeachment trials to cross over to the next Congress.

“For me, the best way forward is to let the impeachment trial cross over to the 20th Congress because it can no longer be done in the 19th Congress. Going further, the best way forward is to go into trial, to determine if there is a conviction or acquittal,” Lacson said.

He disagreed with the move of staunch Duterte supporter Sen. Ronald dela Rosa to “de facto” dismiss the impeachment case by mere resolution presented on the floor for voting.

“There is no sense in the draft resolution calling for the de facto dismissal of the impeachment case against Vice President Duterte. Only the Senate as an impeachment court can render a decision on the matter, not the Senate as a legislative body, as the latter has no jurisdiction or legal authority to do so,” Lacson said.

“If the present Senate does not constitute itself into an Impeachment Court before the 19th Congress adjourns sine die on July 13, there is NO court to cross over to the 20th Congress. Then, the legal issue becomes even more complicated,” he added.

Under Escudero’s new proposal, the impeachment court during the 20th Congress will be convened and for senator judges to take their oaths on July 29, a day after the new Congress opens.

Trial proper can then commence on July 30 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

VP Sara to respond

Duterte is expected to address relevant matters in the coming days following her arrival in the country on Thursday night, according to the Office of the Vice President.

“Vice President Sara Duterte returned to the Philippines on Thursday, 05 June 2025, arriving at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) at approximately 7:40 p.m. (Philippine Standard Time),” the OVP said.

Protests set

Akbayan party-list and civil society coalition Tindig Pilipinas will stage a three-day series of mass actions from June 9 to 11, urging the Senate to convene as an impeachment court to try the Vice President.

The protest actions will begin on June 9 with a people’s march and ecumenical gathering in front of the Senate building in Pasay City, followed by a people’s vigil on June 10 and a “Day of Action for Truth and Accountability” march on June 11.

Akbayan president Rafaela David said the Senate’s delay in convening the impeachment court undermines public trust and raises suspicions of bias toward the Vice President.

“This delay is needlessly eroding public trust. The Senate must fulfill its constitutional duty,” David said.

She also condemned reports of a draft resolution circulating among senators proposing dismissal of the impeachment case due to time constraints.

“It is absurd to talk of dismissal without a formal hearing,” David said, stressing that impeachment proceedings initiated in the 19th Congress can legally continue into the next.

A recent Social Weather Stations survey showed that nine out of 10 Filipinos support a formal trial of Duterte over charges filed against her.

Participants in the three-day protest include student and labor groups, religious organizations and families of victims of extrajudicial killings.

PNP contingency plan

A contingency plan is in place to address chaos that may occur in the looming impeachment trial of Vice President Duterte, the Philippine National Police said yesterday.

PNP chief Gen. Nicolas Torre III said in every event that could affect the country’s operational environment, such as an impeachment trial, the police force has contingencies to maintain peace and order.

“In our assessment we have contingency plans, all of it, it doesn’t only concern impeachment but others as well,” he said over radio dzRH.

Torre declined to divulge the operational details of the security measures they will implement.

He cited the 4Ps of the Office of Civil Defense when responding to natural disasters and other calamities which are predict, prevent, prepare and perform.

In every crisis management, Torre said the PNP is always hoping for a better outcome but is ready to implement for worst-case scenarios.

“So prepare and if something happens we are ready, we just perform,” he said.

Assault on justice, accountability’

Meanwhile, political coalition 1Sambayan yesterday slammed the supposed Senate resolution attempting to kill the impeachment case against Vice President Duterte.

“The attempt of some senators to dismiss and stop the impeachment trial on the false assertion that impeachment proceedings cannot legally transcend congressional sessions is a dangerous and unprecedented assault on the principles of accountability and justice,” the 1Sambayan said, adding that the Constitution’s framework for impeachment does not contain any explicit prohibition against a continuation across sessions.

The group said that allowing the impeachment trial to cross over from the 19th to the 20th Congress is well established with American and United Kingdom practice and jurisprudence.

“And any resolution attempting to dismiss or kill the impeachment trial is illegal. While acknowledging the need for robust procedural safeguards, we stress that these should be strengthened, not used to obstruct the path to justice. To halt an impeachment process midstream due to a change in session is to reward obstruction and invite future abuses,” it added.

The De La Salle Department of Political Science and Development Studies on Friday expressed deep disgust over the protracted delay in convening the Senate as an impeachment court to try the case against Vice President Duterte.

“We call on the senators of the 19th Congress to immediately constitute themselves as an impeachment court and fulfill their solemn constitutional duty. The deliberate foot-dragging reflects an active political maneuvering using a democratic institution that is meant to secure accountability, specifically of a high government official alleged to have committed high crimes and betrayed public trust,” the DLSU department said.

A Mindanao-based group of lawyers asked yesterday the Senate to stop obstructing the Constitution and convene the Senate as an impeachment court to try Duterte.

“The maneuverings are unconstitutional. The inaction is unacceptable,” the Union of People’s Lawyers in Mindanao (UPLM) said. “We demand no less than fidelity to the Constitution. We call on the Senate: convene the impeachment court and proceed with the trial. Without delay, Without excuses. Let us move forward, forthwith,” the UPLM said in a statement.

For its part, religious group Conference of Major Superiors in the Philippines accused Senate President Escudero of allowing the Senate to be turned into a playground for partisanship. –  Bella Cariaso, Jose Rodel Clapano, Emmanuel Tupas, Mark Ernest Villeza