Sen. Jinggoy Estrada Speaks on Impeachment Case vs. VP Sara Duterte
JINGGOY ESTRADA – The Senate President Pro Tempore spoke on the Supreme Court ruling of the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte.
Vice Pres. Sara Duterte recently broke her silence on the ruling of the Supreme Court over the impeachment case against her. She thanked her legal team and the petitioners as well as the people who prayed for justice for her. She also called on the Filipinos to stand tall against ‘greedy leaders’ who will bring the country down.
The Supreme Court declared the articles of impeachment against Vice Pres. Sara Duterte as “unconstitutional”. According to the high court, the complaint did not abide the one-year rule in the Constitution. The court stressed that the ruling does not mean a dismissal of the case filed against the Vice President.
Duterte’s camp previously welcomed the ruling of the Supreme Court. According to Atty. Michael Poa, the spokesperson of her legal team, they remain prepared to address the allegations against the Vice President in the proper forum.
The decision of the Supreme Court is immediately executory but a motion for reconsideration of the ruling may be filed. The House of Representatives previously confirmed their plan to file a motion.
Currently, what many people await is whether or not there will be an impeachment trial in the Senate following the ruling of the Supreme Court. Senate Pres. Chiz Escudero previously claimed that the senators will decide over Duterte’s impeachment case on August 6.
Ahead of the set date for the discussion of the Supreme Court ruling in the Senate, Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada aired his beliefs that most senators are likely to abide by the ruling of the court over Vice Pres. Sara Duterte’s impeachment case. Based on a report on ABS-CBN News, he claimed that there may be 19 to 20 senators who will abide by the SC ruling.
“Una-una sa body language nila. Pangalawa, sa salita nila. Mahalata mo naman kung sino,” the Senator said.
Based on the report, Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada also expressed his belief if the Senate votes to abide by the ruling of the Supreme Court, there will be no more impeachment trial. According to him, the SC ruling stated that the Senate no longer has a jurisdiction of the complaint as it is “unconstitutional”.
“If you abide by the ruling of the Supreme Court, technically, it’s tantamount to dismissal. Well I’m not a lawyer pero yun ang interpretation ko ha,” Estrada said.
While Sen. Jinggoy Estrada believes that most senators are likely to abide by the ruling of the Supreme Court, four (4) senators so far have signed the resolution seeking for the impeachment trial of Vice Pres. Sara Duterte to proceed.