Senate Minority Leader Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III on Saturday, June 7, says that the upper chamber’s credibility, integrity, and historical standing are at stake as it prepares to address the impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte next week.

In an interview at Usapang Senado on DWIZ, Pimentel emphasized that the Senate must honor its constitutional duty to conduct an impeachment trial, as he warned that any sudden moves to derail proceedings--such as the rumored summary dismissal resolution--would not only violate the Constitution but also gravely damage the institution’s reputation.

“Yung credibility ng Senado, reputasyon, integrity, nakataya lalo na kung may sorpresang mangyayari kasi dapat wala na (The Senate’s credibility, reputation, and integrity are at stake, especially if surprises happen, when there really shouldn’t be any),” he said.

“Kapag mayroong isingit doon pagkatapos ng reading, even before the reading mayroong bulabog na gagawin, eh masisira po talaga ang Senado diyan (If anything is inserted after the reading, or if there’s any disturbance even before the reading begins, it will truly harm the Senate’s reputation),” he said.

The reading of the articles of impeachment in the Senate is scheduled on June 11, following delays that Pimentel had previously questioned. He raised alarm over indications that there may be efforts to block the trial before the chamber formally convenes as an impeachment court.

Such actions, he stressed, would go against the Constitution, which mandates that “trial by the Senate shall forthwith proceed".

The draft resolution sought to junk the impeachment complaint against the second top official of the land, citing a lapse of more than 100 days since the articles of impeachment were transmitted by the House of Representatives to the Senate without any corresponding action from the upper chamber.

Pimentel pushed back against the idea that the Senate, as a legislative body, could simply override that constitutional mandate through a plenary vote.

“Kung Constitution na ang nag-uutos, kahit gaano kapowerful ng plenary, di nila pwedeng banggain ang Constitution. Kasi ang Constitution ang kabangga mo diyan taumbayan (If the Constitution commands it, no matter how powerful the plenary is, they cannot go against the Constitution. Because if you go against the Constitution, you are also going against the people),” he explained.

“Di naman batas yang Constitution na pinasa ng Kongreso e, batas yan na pinasa ng taumbayan. Kaya tawag diyan fundamental law (The Constitution isn’t a law passed by Congress; it’s a law passed by the people. That’s why it’s called the fundamental law),” he added.

The veteran lawmaker agreed that history will judge the Senate harshly if the impeachment was arbitrarily killed without any action taken.

"Kaya kami worried kasi member din kami ng senado na yan (That’s why we’re worried, because we are also members of that Senate)," he said.

“Ayaw namin na yan ang magiging reputasyon ng Senate of the 19th Congress (We don’t want that to become the reputation of the Senate of the 19th Congress),” he added.