It is improper for any senator acting as judges in the impeachment trial to push for the dismissal of a pending impeachment complaint, returning Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said on Wednesday, June 11.

Lacson made the remark as he questioned the move of Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, a known ally of Vice President Sara Duterte, to call for the dismissal of the impeachment case against her during the Senate’s plenary session on Tuesday, June 10. 

Dela Rosa’s motion eventually propelled the Senate to convene into an impeachment court. In a surprising move, 18 senator-judges of the 23-man Upper Chamber, voted to remand the Articles of Impeachment back to the House of Representatives where the impeachment case against the vice president emanated. 

“I cannot imagine a judge presiding over a case being the one to move to dismiss it. Isn't it funny to hear a judge moving to dismiss a case he himself is trying?” he asked.

“You are sitting as a senator judge but you already have prejudgment. You haven't seen the evidence yet, but you already formed a judgment and moved to dismiss the case,” he pointed out. 

Logically, Lacson said, the burden of filing a motion to dismiss the complaint should be on the defense panel.

“I would like to believe that a motion to dismiss belongs to the defense panel. And where have you seen a judge moving to dismiss a case?” said Lacson, who had served as a senator-judge during the impeachment trial of former chief justice Renato Corona, in a televised interview. 

But Lacson said there may be nothing to gain from having senator-judges inhibit because of prejudgment, as this could potentially mean a lack of the needed 16 votes or two-thirds of the 24 senator-judges to convict.

Meanwhile, the former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief warned that moves to block the impeachment trial may be harmful to the Vice President. 

Lacson noted that the accusations and allegations against the second top official of the land includes culpable violation of the Constitution, betrayal of public trust, graft and corruption and other high crimes. 

The primary cause of these charges stemmed the controversial use of confidential and intelligence funds of the vice president for both the Office of the Vice President and Department of Education (DepEd); her alleged assassination threat against President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and House Speaker Martin Romualdez; and her alleged involvement in the extra-judicial killings of illegal drug suspects during the Duterte administration’s brutal war on drugs.

“Some of our countrymen would be thinking the Vice President is guilty because the trial did not push through,” Lacson warned.

“But if all pieces of evidence are presented in an impeachment trial, the public will witness the presentation of evidence and draw their own conclusions on whether the Vice President is innocent or not,” he pointed out. 

Lacson said that as a potential senator-judge, he too wants to see the evidence against Duterte laid out before the impeachment court. 

“As potential senator judges, we also want to see the evidence. If it's not enough, sorry we have to acquit. But if we see the evidence is strong, sorry to the respondent but we have to convict,” the lawmaker said.