SC must clarify if VP Duterte impeachment trial can continue into 20th Congress--Sotto

Former Senate President Vicente "Tito" Sotto

Former Senate President Vicente "Tito" Sotto has stressed the need for the Supreme Court (SC) to resolve whether or not the Senate impeachment court can try Vice President Sara Duterte in the upcoming 20th Congress, despite the transmittal of her complaint in current 19t Congress.

This, after the Senate went on recess last Feb. 5 without tackling Vice President Duterte's impeachment complaint. The upper chamber received the impeachment complaint from the House of Representatives that same day.

Both legislative chambers are set to adjourn sine die June 13 to mark the end of the 19th Congress.

Sotto, who is part of the administration-backed Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas senatorial line-up, said there are "two conflicting rules" in the Senate regarding this.

"Mayroong rules of procedure sa impeachment trial na noong panahon namin na ako majority leader noon. At doon nakasaad na 'shall continue the session until final judgement is rendered'. Okay, shall continue until final judgement is rendered. So whether nag-adjourn o hindi ang Senado or ang Kongreso dapat tuloy ang impeachment," he recently told reporters covering the campaign trial.

(We had rules of procedure on impeachment during the time that I was the majority leader. And there, it said that it 'shall continue the session until final judgement is rendered'. Okay, shall continue until final judgement is rendered. So whether or not the Senate or Congress adjoured, the impeachment [trial] must push through.)

"Ngayon, doon sa rules ng Senate as a legislative body mayroong conflicting ang sinasabi doon, 'All matters and proceedings shall terminate upon expiration of one Congress,'" Sotto explained.

(Now, the rules of the Senate as a legislative body says that, "All matters and proceedings shall terminate upon expiration of one Congress.")

Sotto said that the SC must give clarification on the matter.

"Being a justiciable issue pwedeng i-take up talaga ng [SC] ‘yan, whether they may continue or not so kung ang problema diyan, kapag nag desisyon ang korte ng hindi pwedeng mag-continue then sayang lahat ang gagawin ng Senate ngayon papunta sa June 13. So dapat diyan malaman ng maaga," he said.

(Being a justiciable issue, the SC can really take it up, whether they may continue or not. The problem there is, if the court decides that the impeachment cannot continue [into the 20th Congress], the everything that the Senare will do from now until June 13 will lhave been a waste. So we must know the answer early.)

The new composition of the Senate will be known after the conduct of the May 12 elections.