Philippine Senate chief says they can’t try impeached VP Duterte until June

THE PHILIPPINE Senate can’t convene as an impeachment court to try Vice-President (VP) Sara Duterte-Carpio for corruption and other charges since Congress would soon be on a four-month break, according to its chief.

Senate President Francis G. Escudero on Thursday noted that senators must take an oath as impeachment jurors, which they need to do while the Legislature is in session. “Legally, it cannot be done,” he told a news briefing.

That means her trial will have to wait until June, when a new set of senators and congressmen resume sessions after the midterm elections in May. Filipinos will pick more than 300 congressmen and 12 of the 24-member Senate, along with other local government officials on May 12.

Mr. Escudero said they could hold a special session to pass bills during the break, but not as an impeachment court. “To swear in the impeachment judges, the Senate must be in session.”

“We will not rush this,” he said. “We will not delay it excessively either. We will not be pressured by anyone.”

The House of Representatives on Wednesday impeached the vice president for alleged abuse of power and constitutional violations stemming from her use of confidential funds, paving the way for her trial by the Senate.

The impeachment complaint against Ms. Duterte, daughter of former President Rodrigo R. Duterte, was filed and signed by 215 congressmen, more than the one-third legal requirement before it can be sent to the Senate, which will try her as an impeachment court.

Under the 1987 Constitution, several congressmen will be serving as impeachment prosecutors.

The House delivered a quick and stunning blow against the estranged vice president, who has denied wrongdoing, allowing it to send the ouster charges immediately to the Senate without further hearings.

The ouster charges consisted of seven articles of impeachment, including allegations of plotting the assassination of the President, misusing secret funds, amassing unexplained wealth and committing acts of destabilization.

Her impeachment is a major setback for the influential Duterte family, whose popularity grew rapidly after Mr. Duterte was swept to power in 2016 as a maverick, crime-busting mayor. As President, he upended Philippine foreign policy and launched a drug war that killed thousands.

Ms. Duterte is the fourth Philippine official to be impeached or charged with misconduct after ex-President Joseph E. Estrada in 2000, Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez in March 2011 and Chief Justice Renato Corona in December 2011.

Mr. Estrada and Mr. Corona were both convicted and removed from office by the Senate on corruption charges, while Ms. Gutierrez resigned before she could be tried. Chief Justice Maria Lourdes P.A. Sereno was ousted by the Supreme Court in 2018 amid impeachment proceedings before a House committee.

Meanwhile, President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. said he did not have a hand in Ms. Duterte’s impeachment.

“The Executive cannot have a hand in the impeachment. It does not have a role in impeachment,” he told a news briefing at the presidential palace. “What the House has done is clearly the constitutional mandate that they have to proceed with the impeachment complaints.”

Also on Thursday, Iloilo Rep. Lorenz R. Defensor said the Constitution provides that once an impeachment complaint is transmitted, “trial by the Senate shall forthwith proceed.”

“Regardless of how early they (senators) act on it, we will respect that,” he told a news briefing. “However, I hope this trial proceeds because this is the perfect opportunity for all parties involved.”

“We will be prepared if ever the Senate does indeed interpret that they could proceed with trial as early as March. If they decide that it will continue after June 2, we will be even more ready,” he added.

The vice president’s impeachment marks the peak in the escalating political conflict between two of the country’s most influential clans. The falling out of the Dutertes and Marcoses has resulted in the shattering of what was once a formidable political alliance that gave them landslide wins in the 2022 elections.

The quarrel reached a climax when Ms. Duterte in a November news briefing said she had hired an assassin to kill Mr. Marcos, his wife and the Speaker, in case she herself were killed. She later said her remarks had been taken out of context.

The President had dissuaded the House from pursuing her impeachment.

The Dutertes have some allies in the Senate, including Mr. Duterte’s ex-police chief and former chief presidential aide. At least 16 votes are needed for conviction.

A January Social Weather Stations poll found that four of 10 Filipinos support efforts to remove Ms. Duterte from office. — Norman P. Aquino, John Victor D. Ordoñez and Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio