SP Chiz Escudero Speaks After House Speaker Martin Romualdez Describes Senate Move as “Deeply Concerning”
CHIZ ESCUDERO – The Senate President expressed that the House prosecution panel and Vice President Sara Duterte should respect the decision of impeachment court.
With 18 senators voting in support of the motion of Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, the Senate as impeachment court moved to return the articles of impeachment against Vice Pres. Sara Duterte to the House of Representatives. Only five (5) senators opposed the motion.
No senator abstained from the voting on the motion of Cayetano. Here are those who voted in the affirmative and the negative to the motion to return the articles of impeachment to the House of Representatives:
YES
- Alan Peter Cayetano
- Pia Cayetano
- Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa
- JV Ejercito
- Chiz Escudero
- Jinggoy Estrada
- Bong Go
- Lito Lapid
- Loren Legarda
- Imee Marcos
- Robin Padilla
- Bong Revilla
- Francis Tolentino
- Raffy Tulfo
- Joel Villanueva
- Cynthia Villar
- Mark Villar
- Juan Miguel Zubiri
NO
- Koko Pimentel
- Risa Hontiveros
- Sherwin Gatchalian
- Grace Poe
- Nancy Binay
The Senate voted to return the articles of impeachment to the lower chamber without dismissing or terminating the case until the following are met:
- The House of Representatives certified to the non-violation of Article XI, Section 3, paragraph 5 of the Constitution, which provides that “No impeachment proceedings shall be initiated against the same official more than once within one year; include the circumstances on the filing of the first three impeachment complaints”; and
- The House of Representatives of the 20th Congress communicated to the Senate that it was willing and ready to pursue the impeachment complaint against the Vice President.
Senate Pres. Chiz Escudero previously clarified that the return of the articles of impeachment does not mean that the case is dismissed. According to him, it is an opportunity for the prosecution team to answer the questions before the impeachment court makes a decision.
House Speaker Martin Romualdez recently said that the return of the articles of impeachment against Duterte is “deeply concerning”. The lower chamber also reacted saying that the case complied with the 1987 Constitution.
However, based on a report on GMA News, Senate Pres. Chiz Escudero stressed that the impeachment court has not received any pleading. He stressed that the communication should be through pleadings, thus, he refused to comment on statements not through it.
Based on the report, Senate Pres. Chiz Escudero also stressed that the House prosecution panel and Vice Pres. Sara Duterte must respect the decision of the impeachment court. The court sent summons to the Vice President.
“‘Yun ang pasya ng impeachment court bilang mga taga-usig. Dapat nilang galangin at sundin ‘yun. Kapareho sa parte ni VP Sara, dapat galangin at sundin rin niya ang summons na in-issue ng impeachment court,” Escudero said.