ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Sotto: '4 to 5' senators say VP Duterte impeachment case can be tackled now

Sotto: '4 to 5' senators say VP Duterte impeachment case can be tackled now

Published Feb 20, 2025 08:36 am

At A Glance

  • DUMAGUETE CITY, Negros Oriental--Administration senatorial bet Vicente "Tito" Sotto III has claimed that there are "four to five" sitting senators who believe that the impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte can be taken up now.

20250220_163909.jpgFormer Senate President Vicente "Tito" Sotto III (left), Vice President Sara Duterte (Facebook, PPAB)

DUMAGUETE CITY, Negros Oriental--Administration senatorial bet Vicente "Tito" Sotto III has claimed that there are "four to five" sitting senators who believe that the impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte can be taken up now.

Sotto, a candidate under the Alansya para sa Bagong Pilipinas senatorial slate, gave this reaction to Senate President Francis 'Chiz" Escudero's reiteration that Duterte’s impeachment case should be tackled in the upcoming 20th Congress, and not in the dwindling days of the 19th Congress.

"Are you sure it would be the 20th Congress? Because they can take it up now, if they want to," Sotto, himself a former Senate President, told a press conference here Thursday, Feb. 20.

"Kasi nakakausap ko yung ibang mga senador, hindi ganun yung mga sinasabi eh. Pwede raw i-take up eh (Because I've spoken to other senators, and that's not what they're saying. They said it can be taken up)," he said.

Asked how many incumbent members of the Senate subscribed to this thought, Sotto said, "Four or five of them, I will not name them...and according to at least two of them, the others feel the same way."

The 23 sitting senators received the impeachment complaint against Vice President Duterte from the House of Representatives last Feb. 5. The two legislative chambers went on recess the same day to make way for the May 12 mid-term elections.

After the senators convene into an impeachment trial court, they may decide on convicting Duterte via two-thirds vote (16).

Sotto's revelations notwithstanding, he said it could already be "too late" for the 19th Congress to handle the impeachment.

Congress (House and Senate) will reconvene on June 2, but will adjourn sine die by June 13. By June 30, the solons of 20th Congress will have taken over.

"It's a pity because I think if they referred it to the body during the time that they received the transmittal, they could have conducted hearings led by the Committee on Rules during the break and they could have convened, if they wanted to, by June 2. Or even before, if they convene themselves as an impeachment court," he explained.

"Of course, this is my opinion, definitely [different] from the opinion of others," he noted.

Related Tags

Tito Sotto Impeachment francis Chiz Escudero Sara Duterte
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.