Escudero as presiding officer in Sara Duterte impeachment trial pending

MANILA, Philippines— Whether or not  Sen.  Francis “Chiz” Escudero would serve as presiding officer in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte remains up in the air, Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian said.

“I don’t want to preempt the presiding officer discussion. That will still be discussed by the senators,” Gatchalian said in press briefing in the Senate on Thursday.

“Under the rules, it’s the  Senate president who would preside unless the Senate would decide otherwise,” he added.

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It was Sen. Panfilo Lacson, who said that Escudero was the majority bloc’s choice to  preside over the impeachment trial based on their discussion on Wednesday morning.

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“As per our consensus as of this morning, we will elect Sen. Chiz Escudero if we convene again as the impeachment court to be the presiding officer,” Lacson said, though he added that “it may still change.”

But pending further discussion with his colleagues, Gatchalian said he remains the presiding officer in accordance with the rules.

“We will discuss.  But right now as it stands in the the rules, I will preside,” the Senate chief stressed.

Rule II of the  impeachment rules explicitly provides that the Senate president should preside in all other impeachment cases, except  when the president of the Philippines is on trial.

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The election of another senator, however, was made possible when the Senate amended  the rules during the June 3 session, which was attended by 12 senators.

A petition, however, filed before the Supreme Court by nine senators led by former Senate president Alan Peter Cayetano sought to nullify the June 3 proceedings, during which all seats were also declared vacant.

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Citing a provision in the Constitution, the petitioners  argued that at least 13 of 24 senators are required to do business.

Gatchalian insisted they had a quorum, citing  “established precedents” in which only 12 senators were used to determine a quorum in at least eight instances in the past.

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“If the Supreme Court finds that there is irreparable damage, it will issue a TRO (temporary restraining order). No TRO has been issued. In the absence of a TRO, work continues as usual,” Gatchalian said. /gsg