The Supreme Court (SC) has been asked the compel the Senate to constitute itself as an impeachment court and start immediately the trial of the verified impeachment complaints filed by the House of Representatives against Vice President Sara Duterte.

The petition was filed by lawyer Catalino Aldea Generillo Jr. who cited the provisions of the 1987 Philippine Constitution.

Named respondents were all the senators led by Senate President Francis G. Escudero.

It was not known immediately if the petition that was docketed as GR No. 278311 and filed last Friday, Feb. 14, will be taken up by the SC during its full court session on Tuesday, Feb. 18.

In his petition, Generillo told the SC that the Senate has “the inescapable constitutional duty to immediately constitute itself into an impeachment court” and start the impeachment trial of Duterte.

He was referring to Section 3(4) of Article XI of the Constitution which states: “In case the verified complaint or resolution of impeachment is filed by at least one-third of all the Members of the House, the same shall constitute the Articles of Impeachment, and trial by the Senate shall forthwith proceed.”

Among the meanings of “forthwith” in Oxford Dictionary are “immediately,” “at once,” “instantly,” “directly,” “right away,” “straight away,” “now,” “instantaneously,” and “without delay,” Generillo said.

Thus, he stressed that the use of the word “forthwith” in the Constitutional provision “must be taken, at the least, with some urgency.”

In the case of the verified impeachment complaints against Vice President Duterte, Generillo said: “The honorable members of the Senate, individually or collectively, are not suffering from any kind of disability, physical or mental, that prevents them from constituting themselves into an impeachment court and forthwith conduct public trial to determine whether the Vice President is guilty or not.”

He pointed out: “In the final analysis, the Constitution does not allow the Senate to procrastinate during the period it is on recess whether it shall constitute itself into an impeachment court and try the Vice President.”

The verified complaint for impeachment was turned over to the Senate by the House of Representatives shortly before the former adjourned session last Feb. 5. 

Senate President Escudero had said the Senate cannot legally start the impeachment trial while Congress is on recess.

Escudero had also said that the impeachment case was not referred to the plenary before session adjourned, and thus there was no basis for the Senate to convene as an impeachment court.

He declared that when Senate sessions resume in June, the senators would review and update the impeachment rules.  Thereafter, the pre-trial would start, he said.

The impeachment complaints against Duterte were “based on the grounds of culpable violation of the Constitution, betrayal of public trust, graft and corruption, and other high crimes.”