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(UPDATE) SENATE President Francis Escudero on Saturday said there would be no special session while Congress is in recess to try the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte, saying such a session would be unconstitutional.
Escudero issued the statement a day after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said he was open to calling a special session if the senators requested one.
The Senate president said the law specifies the circumstances under which a special session can be called. These are if the president declares martial law, appoints a new vice president, or Congress must act on a pending bill. Convening the Senate for impeachment does not fall under any of these categories, he said.
Under the law, the president, Senate president, and speaker of the House are the persons who can call Congress into special session.
Escudero said he would not be compelled to call a special session, emphasizing that it is inappropriate to rush the impeachment trial. He said Duterte's trial can only occur on June 2, 2025, or after the May 12 elections.
He argued that the impeachment trial should not be hurried during the 19th Congress, suggesting instead that it should occur in the 20th Congress when the Senate has elected its new members. Additionally, he pointed out that some current members of the House will no longer be in office by then.
In a media forum on Thursday, Feb. 6, Escudero said there will be no impeachment trial while Congress is in recess, saying the Senate must hold a session before the senators can be sworn in as jurors for the trial, and this session can only occur on June 2, 2025, after the May elections.
The Senate chief said even though the impeachment complaint, which contains six articles of impeachment, is now with the Senate, the senators who will serve as judges need time to review its contents.
He added that the Senate will also assess whether the existing impeachment rules and regulations apply to the trial concerning the vice president.
Escudero said the House of Representatives cannot pressure the Senate to begin an impeachment trial.
"If the House has been sitting on the impeachment complaint against Vice President Duterte for about two months, why should we rush to hold an impeachment trial after it was submitted to the Senate at around five o'clock in the afternoon on Wednesday, which is the last session day of Congress?"
According to the Constitution, the Senate has the sole authority to conduct impeachment trials and make decisions. If two-thirds of the 23-member Senate votes for her conviction, Duterte could be removed from office and would be barred from again seeking public office.
Meanwhile, several lawmakers chided the vice president for not taking her impending impeachment trial seriously.
Duterte, in her press conference on Thursday, said it was more hurtful to be left by a romantic partner than be impeached by the House of Representatives.
She also said she was not interested in resigning the vice presidency for the sake of running in the 2028 elections.
Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, lead chairman of the House quad committee that is investigating the alleged misdeeds of her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, said that Duterte's remark on the impeachment shows that she is not taking the trial seriously.
Barbers said that instead of resigning, Duterte should instead show her evidence at the Senate impeachment trial, where she will be given due process to defend herself.
In a news forum on Saturday, Manila Rep. Joel Chua, one of the prosecutors in the upcoming trial, said if Duterte resigned, the trial should continue despite views by former Supreme Court senior associate justice Antonio Carpio that the trial is over if she leaves her post.
"Assuming for the sake of argument she resigned, of course, removal from office is useless, but we have a prayer which is the issue of perpetual disqualification, and for this alone, I believe, the trial should continue," Chua said.
Chua acknowledged that Escudero would be hard put to call a special session when some of his colleagues are campaigning.
He also acknowledged that some House members elected to become prosecutors might be replaced if they don't win reelection.
Other lawmakers blasted Duterte for denying she made assassination threats against the president, first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and Speaker Martin Romualdez.
In her latest press conference, Duterte denied issuing a threat, even though she publicly announced in December that if she is killed, an assassin would be ready to kill the president, the first lady and the speaker.
Taguig Rep. Amparo Zamora, whose sister, San Juan Rep. Ysabel Zamora, is part of the House prosecution panel, said Duterte "cannot lie her way out of this."
"Her own words prove that she talked to someone, an assassin or a hitman, and ordered the killing of the president, the first lady and the speaker of the House if anything happened to her. That is a direct admission of a criminal conspiracy, and now she wants to pretend she never said it?" Zamora said.
Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong said Duterte is now "trying to play the victim," but "she is the one who put herself in this mess,"
"She threw a tantrum, blurted out highly dangerous statements, and now that she realizes the legal consequences, she is pretending none of it happened. But the public is not stupid," Adiong said.
Zambales Rep. Jefferson Khonghun, on the other hand, urged the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to work hard in expediting the resolution of their investigation on the case, saying the threats made against the president are a grave concern and a national security issue.
"We are talking about the vice president of the Philippines saying she ordered a hit on the president, the first lady and the speaker. If this were anyone else, they would already be in handcuffs," Khonghun added.
One of the 11 lawmakers tapped as prosecutors said he would see if senators allied with the vice president could be pressed to inhibit themselves at her impeachment trial.
Speaking at the Saturday News Forum in Quezon City, Manila 3rd District Rep. Joel Chua said they will discuss it once the panel is formally convened.
"We'll see if that's possible," Chua said, referring to suggestions that senators allied with Duterte must inhibit themselves from the impeachment trial. "We will wait for our team to convene first, and then, we will discuss all the options."
He believed some senators might even voluntarily recuse themselves out of "delicadeza."
Chua noted that the impeachment trial is largely a numbers game, making the question of inhibitions crucial.
Duterte's known allies in the Senate include Sens. Ronald Dela Rosa, Bong Go, Robinhood Padilla and presidential sister Imee Marcos.
Chua said the panel would also have to discuss the possibility of the vice president resigning, although she earlier dismissed the idea of stepping down.
"At the end of the day, we must respect the process. I trust that our senators will uphold their duty to the Filipino people," he said.
On Feb. 5, the House of Representatives transmitted the Articles of Impeachment, signed by 215 members, to the Senate, but the latter adjourned until June 2 without discussing it.
An upbeat Duterte faced the media on Friday but did not talk extensively about the impeachment, except that her lawyers have long been preparing for it. WITH PNA