Incoming Mamamayang Liberal (ML) Party-list Rep. Leila de lima is not closing the door to seeking relief from the Supreme Court (SC) in the event that Vice President Sara Duterte's impeachment complaint does not cross over from the current 19th Congress to the 20th Congress.
De Lima is part of the 11-person House prosecution panel in the impeachment case, which some Duterte family allies in the Senate is already branding as dead.
But for the congressman-prosecutors, holding Duterte's Senate impeachment trial in the upcoming 20th Congress is a given--or at the very an arguable outcome.
"Para sa akin, ang (For me, the) impeachment trial at this stage, which will be convening from the impeachment court and also proceeding with the impeachment trial, is not optional," De Lima, a former senator, said on Monday, June 2.
In a press conference that same day, Senate President Francis "Chiz" Escudero emphasized that its not a guarantee that the Vice President's impeachment trial--where the senators will serve as judges--can continue in the 20th Congress.
Escudero said that it would be up to the plenary--once the Senate reconvenes in July--to vote on what to do with the impeachment complaint from the House of Representatives.
"Dito sa usapin na to, lalo na pag ano na yan, sasabihin na yan sa next Congress, sa 20th Congress, 'Hindi na kami pwede kasi bago na kami. Kailangan, back to square one.' Siyempre hindi yan gusto ng prosecution panel. So, baka nga dalhin sa [SC]," De Lima said.
(On this matter, especially if the senators say in the 20th Congress, 'We can't do that anymore because we have a new mandate. It should be back to square one.' Of course the prosecution panel doesn’t want that. So maybe it will be brought to the SC.)
De Lima says she believes that impeachment cases--in essence a political chess game--should no longer be made an SC matter.
"Kailangan very sparing na lang. Hindi ko sinasabing totally wala na, wala na ang power of [SC] to intervene in any manner (It’s involvement should be very sparing. I'm not saying there's totally none, that the SC no longer has power to intervene in any manner.)
She said things could go the other way around in that the defense team of Vice President Duterte could run to the SC if the impeachment trial pushes through in the next Congress.
At any rate, De Lima said Escudero could have exerted more effort in his presser to clarify the future of the impeachment complaint.
"I was expecting more from the statements, from the pronouncements...He could've been more categorical," she said.