Senate President Francis "Chiz" Escudero said on Friday, Feb. 21, that he will consult his fellow senators if they want to or are available for a caucus to discuss Vice President Sara Duterte's impeachment trial.
"Will consult the others if they want to and if they are available," Escudero said in a statement sent to reporters.
This was in response to Senate Minority Leader Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III's recent pronouncement that he would speak to Escudero to direct all the senators' attention to Duterte's impeachment complaint.
Pimentel also said that the Senate can call for a special session on its own to act on the impeachment complaint. Looking at both the Constitution and the Senate's existing rules, Pimentel said that they did not get the impression that they should be in session as a legislative body.
He also expressed his belief that the impeachment trial should start by March.
"Prepared naman na si SP. Pina-review niya na rules so madali naman yun. Kapag the court is now in session, mag-oath kami, we reaffirm the existing rules, para lang wala nang issue kung valid siya o hindi, kung may proposed amendments kilusan na namin (SP is already prepared. He had the rules reviewed, so that's easy enough. When the court is now in session, we'll take an oath, reaffirming the existing rules, just to avoid any issues about their validity. If there are proposed amendments, we'll address them)," he said.
"Then i-authorize na namin ang Senate President to send summons to the impeached official para umaandar na yung 10 days. Sayang din yun (We then authorized the Senate President to send a summons to the impeached official so that the 10-day period can start. We shouldn't waste any time)," he added.
Escudero on the other hand, said that he disagrees with him that they can start trial during the recess when they are not in session by simply agreeing among themselves to do so.
"This may bring our actions into question before the courts. Prudence, as they say, is the better part of valor," he added.