Senate Pres. Tito Sotto Speaks on Possible Impeachment Trial
TITO SOTTO
– The Senate President revealed that he is now seeking legal guidance of some of his justices friends over the possible impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.
The secretary general of the House of Representatives, Cheloy Garafil, recently confirmed that the
impeachment complaints against Vice Pres. Sara Duterte have already been transmitted to the office of House Speaker Bojie Dy
. Two (2) impeachment raps were filed against the Vice President last February 2.
The first impeachment complaint filed against Duterte was endorsed by the
Makabayan
bloc. In the said complaint, the Vice President is accused of supposed betrayal of public trust and gross abuse of discretionary powers regarding the supposed misuse of the P625 million confidential funds of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd).
Not long after the
Makabayan
bloc filed the impeachment complaint before the Office of the House Secretary General,
Tindig Pilipinas
also filed another impeachment rap against he Vice President. The complaint was endorsed by
Mamamayang Liberal
party-list Rep. Leila de Lima and Akbayan party-list Rep. Perci Cendaña.
The filing of the impeachment raps against Vice Pres. Duterte came after the Supreme Court reaffirmed its ruling that the previous impeachment complaint filed against the Vice President is “unconstitutional”. After it, 19 senators of the 20th Congress voted to archive the impeachment rap against Duterte.
Here are the votes of the senators on the proposal to archive the impeachment complaint against Duterte then:
Alan Peter Cayetano
Pia Cayetano
Ronald Dela Rosa
JV Ejercito
Francis Escudero
Jinggoy Estrada
Sherwin Gatchalian
Bong Go
Lito Lapid
Loren Legarda
Rodante Marcoleta
Imee Marcos
Robinhood Padilla
Erwin Tulfo
Raffy Tulfo
Joel Villanueva
Camille Villar
Mark Villar
Juan Miguel Zubiri
Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV
Risa Hontiveros
Francis Pangilinan
Vicente “Tito” Sotto III
ABSTAIN
Panfilo “Ping” Lacson
Then, Sen. Ping Lacson claimed that he and then-Senate Minority Leader Tito Sotto will revive the impeachment complaint against Vice Pres. Sara Duterte from the archives if the Senate changes its ruling.
“I am being briefed by some justices friends because I would want to concentrate on how to be the presiding officer of an impeachment court pagdating sa rules of evidence at saka sa) rules on criminal procedures,”
the Senate President claimed.
Based on the
report
, Senate Pres. Tito Sotto further stressed that the important thing in the impeachment process is that you have a clear view on the rules of the evidence as there are excellent lawyers who make any submissions to the court. According to the Senate Chief, his fellow senators are also seeking legal guidance ahead of the possible impeachment trial.
Recently, Pres. Ferdinand
Marcos Jr. was asked about his reaction to the House Secretary General transmitting the impeachment raps against VP Sara Duterte
to the Office of the House Speaker.