Senate President Chiz Escudero appears to have stalled the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte, preventing it from progressing.
Senator-elect Tito Sotto explained that Escudero should have immediately referred the impeachment case to the Senate’s committee on rules on the same day the Articles of Impeachment were received. Instead, the case has remained in the Senate President’s office, potentially derailing the entire process before the 19th Congress ends.
“Ang dapat ginawa ng leadership ng Senate ni-refer sa floor, dinala sa floor at ni-refer sa committee on rules. So [noong] February 5, 4PM nila natanggap, 7PM sila nag-adjourn. They had 3 hours. You all need to do is 15 seconds to refer it to any committee,” Sotto said in an interview on Sa Totoo Lang on One PH last night.
“Sa ngayon, hindi pa rin nire-refer. Nasa kamay pa rin ng Senate President. And as I said, the Senate President is just the presiding officer, he’s not the Senate,” he added.
Sotto urged the Senate to act swiftly when the session resumes, warning that failure to do so could result in the impeachment complaint dying a “natural death” in the 19th Congress.
“Kung ginawa ito, pwedeng mag-crossover sa 20th Congress. Kung hindi, mamamatay sa 19th Congress,” Sotto said.
While acknowledging that the Senate is already late in addressing the complaint, Sotto remains hopeful that there is still time to refer it to the rules committee and constitute the Senate as an impeachment court before the new Congress begins in July. (ZIA LUNA)
