Dismissing the impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte without a trial would be a violation of the Constitution, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III said on Thursday, June 5.

Pimentel issued the warning after Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa sought the dismissal of the impeachment raps against the vice president due to lack of material time for the Senate in the 19th Congress. 

The minority leader insisted that the Senate has the duty to convene as an impeachment court immediately after receiving the Articles of Impeachment against Duterte from the House of Representatives as it is their mandate under the Constitution. 

Thus, hearing the motion to dismiss the impeachment complaint outside of the impeachment court that should conduct the trial is unconstitutional.

“Using court analogy, tama (it’s right) that the dismissal motion or resolution should be brought before the Senate as the impeachment court,” the minority leader stressed.

“However, unconstitutional pa rin (it is still unconstitutional) if the impeachment case is summarily dismissed because the Constitution says ‘TRIAL BY THE SENATE SHALL FORTHWITH PROCEED’,” Pimentel reiterated.

Pimentel said it is incumbent for senators to convene as an impeachment court to hear and try the respondent as senator-judges during a public trial.

The Senate, as an impeachment court, is not subject to ordinary or general rules.

“Kung meron ng na-impeach, kailangan marinig ng taong bayan ano ba ang ebidensiya ng kanilang mga representante sa pag impeach nila (If someone is impeached, the people need to hear what evidence their representatives have for impeaching them),” he said.

“At kailangan bigyan din ng pagkakataon ang impeached official na depensahan at linisin ang pangalan niya (And the impeached official must also be given the opportunity to defend and clear his name),” Pimentel said. 

Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero had scheduled the House prosecution panel’s presentation of the Articles of Impeachment on June 11, 2025. He originally scheduled the presentation on June 2 and moved it to June 11 much to the dismay of some senators who questioned the Senate leader’s move. 

Escudero said there has been no resolution seeking the dismissal of the impeachment complaint against the vice president that has been formally filed in the Senate. 

“Any kind of resolution that has no author, as they say, is just a mere scrap of paper,” Escudero said in a separate interview.

Earlier, Dela Rosa, former president Rodrigo Duterte’s staunch ally, confirmed that a draft Senate resolution seeking the de facto dismissal of the impeachment complaint against vice president Duterte that has been circulating on social media emanated from his office.

Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano agreed with Pimentel, saying he also believes he and his colleagues must comply with the constitutional provision. 

“I’ll make it very clear. The Senate has no choice. We have to carry out our constitutional duty,” Cayetano said. 

Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada, who admitted having received a copy of the draft resolution, also thumbed down Dela Rosa’s proposition, saying he agrees that it is the Senate’s duty to hear the impeachment complaint as an impeachment court.

“Naniniwala ako (I believe) it is our constitutional duty to hear the impeachment case against any impeachable officer. That is written in our constitution,” he said.