Incoming Mamamayang Liberal (ML) Party-list Rep. Leila de Lima called out two senator-judges for joining Vice President Sara Duterte's trip to Malaysia despite the fact that the Senate impeachment court had already been convened.

This, as De Lima criticized certain senators for their utter lack of impartiality in the impeachment case of the country’s second highest official.

“Talaga namang halatang-halata na sila. Pagsasalita even sa conduct nila. Remember may dalawang senador na sinamahan pa si VP Sara sa Kuala Lumpur. Imagine that (Through their words and conduct, their partiality is very obvious. Remember there are two senators who even accompanied VP Sara to Kuala Lumpur. Imagine that), she said in an interview Saturday, June 21.

De Lima was referring to Senators Imee Marcos and Robin Padilla.

De Lima noted that several senators have begun acting less like judges in an impeachment court and more like defense counsels, to the point of even making preemptive public statements that mirror Vice President Duterte's narrative.

Arguably, the first to do this was Senator Ronald Bato dela Rosa, who previously initiated a a motion to dismiss the impeachment complaint outright without first holding a trial.

The ML Party-list nominee said the acts of these senators, including the public endorsements of Duterte as the next president, go beyond the bounds of propriety.

According to the former senator, this showed clear basis for the pro-Duterte senators to inhibit themselves or step aside from the impeachment trial.

Kung sa basehan, may basehan. Malinaw ang basehan. What else can you call that kundi pagkiling. Saan ka nakikita ng isang korte ng isang judge na nag-file at nag-move for dismissal? Hindi po ‘yan nangyayari,” she added.

(As far as basis is concerned, there is clear basis. What else can you call that but bias. Where have you seen a court where the judge itself filed and moved for dismissal? That doesn't happen.)

Despite this, De Lima--like her fellow House prosecutors in the impeachment trial--conceeded that it's the senators who should make that decision.

“It is a clear basis. It is a legal basis. It’s a just basis...Pero ang nag-decide yan…sila, voluntary (But the decision lies with them, it should be voluntary).

De Lima said it ultimately depends on a senator’s own sense of propriety or delicadeza if he or she would inhibit or not from the trial. What's important is for the senator-judges to do their job, she reckoned.

Karapatan ng taong bayan na malaman ang katotohanan. Hindi ito political persecution na sinasabi nila (The people have a right to know the truth. This is not political persecution as they have claimed),” De Lima said.