Lawmakers dispute the claim of Chiz Escudero about the impeachment of VP Sara Duterte.
Senate President Chiz Escudero says that the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte is not an urgent matter.
In several interviews, Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero stressed that the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte will follow as is according to what is stated in the law. He has no plans to call a special session while the Senate is on break, citing constitutional guidelines.
As per him, the impeachment trial will move forward unless the Supreme Court blocks it. The Senate will not refuse as well in case Malacañang calls for a special session to start the proceedings at an earlier time.
He also claimed that the impeachment was not urgent, and on Monday, several lawmakers disputed this.
House Deputy Minority Leader and ACT Teachers Party List Representative France Castro, House Assistant Minority Leader and Gabriela Party List Arlene Brosas, and Kabataan Party List Representative Raoul Manuel expressed in a joint statement: “This position is not only legally unsound, but serves to shield the Vice President from accountability.”
Castro believed that the impeachment was undoubtedly special as it would hold officials in high positions accountable. For Manuel, each day is a day of delay in terms of seeking justice.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was called to convene a special session; however, he will only do so if asked by the Senate.
About VP Sara’s impeachment trial
In a previous article, Escudero let Senator Koko Pimentel help draft the rules for the impeachment trial of the vice president. Pimentel expressed that he was willing to lead the drafting of the impeachment rules.
There are only five of them in the Senate who are lawyers, and he would be willing to devote his time to the job.
To recall, the vice president impeachment trial was pushed through after the majority of the lawmakers from the House of Representatives signed the impeachment complaint.
There are six major allegations involved, and those are the following:
- Misusing public funds while being the vice president and education department head
- unexplained wealth
- death threats to the president
- Bribery and corruption
- involvement in extrajudicial killings
- destabilization, insurrection, and public disorder
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