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Neil Jayson Servallos - The Philippine Star
June 2, 2025 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — The Senate should prioritize the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte over its regular legislative calendar if the schedules are in conflict, Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III said yesterday, citing the need to resolve the status of a high-ranking public official.
While Pimentel acknowledged the debate over such prioritization, he maintained that the impeachment trial calendar must come first once proceedings are set in motion.
“As a lawyer, I qualify the spirit… what I mean to say, it already shows that if there is a scenario where there will be a clash between the legislative calendar and trial calendar, you must prioritize the impeachment trial calendar,” he said.
“Why? Because there is a high government official that is affected. We want the high government official to know if she continues office, will she be removed or acquitted. She must also know,” he said.
Pimentel’s remarks suggest that once the Senate sits as an impeachment court, it should treat the trial with the urgency and singularity it demands—even at the cost of delaying ordinary legislative business.
The impeachment complaint against Duterte, initiated in the 19th Congress, is now the subject of legal and procedural debates over whether it can continue in the 20th Congress.
Pimentel made the remark days after Senate President Francis Escudero moved the reading of the Articles of Impeachment to June 11 — citing the need to focus on the passage of priority legislation before it adjourns sine die on June 13. Originally, it was set today.
Pimentel added Escudero should allow the impeachment court to convene and the senator-judges to take their oaths on the same day.
“I think it’s possible, even for the reading of the complaint by Senate President Chiz Escudero. That is the sequence I think it’s possible,” Pimentel said. “The impeachment court convenes, take oath taking so that there could be instructions or directives given to the clerk of the impeachment court.”
In Congress, House deputy majority leader Paolo Ortega is concerned with the Senate’s unilateral decision to move from June 2 to June 11 the Senate impeachment trial of Duterte.
“We have a delay, there is a cause of delay. We have a few apprehensions on this because time is running out. A few months ago, a few weeks ago, we have already set a date for this, and here comes the short notice,” Ortega observed.
“Do we still have time? But as I said, it’s all in the hands of the Senate. It’s their leadership call. The most important thing for me here is that we will be able to read the Articles of Impeachment and that they have received our impeachment complaint,” Ortega said.
First test of strength
Even before the impeachment trial could begin, Vice President Duterte could already know her chances of acquittal by filing a motion questioning the incoming Senate’s jurisdiction over the impeachment complaint, veteran lawyer Romulo Macalintal said yesterday.
Macalintal noted that whether the impeachment case can be carried over to the next Congress is a key legal question that may be raised by the Vice President once the Senate convenes as an impeachment court.
If Duterte questions the authority of the 20th Congress to proceed with the complaint, Macalintal said the Senate will be compelled to vote on her motion, wherein the results of the voting could effectively reveal whether she has the numbers to block the trial at the outset.
“The outcome – whether granted or denied – will be decided by a simple majority of 13 senators. Regardless of the result, the vote will give Duterte a preview of her support in the Senate,” Macalintal said.
“If she secures at least nine senators, she may be confident of acquittal, even if the trial proceeds,” he added.
Since the impeachment complaint remained pending at the end of the 19th Congress, Macalintal said Duterte may argue that any action on it by the 20th Congress would amount to treating it as a new complaint – thus violating the constitutional one-year bar on filing more than one impeachment complaint against the same official. — Delon Porcalla, Mayen Jaymalin
