Sara Duterte impeachment: Gatchalian expects all senators to participate

MANILA, Philippines — Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian said he expects all senators, including members of the minority bloc, to participate in Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial, which begins Monday.

“I believe everyone’s attending, because this is part of our job. Everyone also knows that it is good for them to be present so that they can hear for themselves what is happening. And they can participate in the trial, if they want to ask questions to the witnesses or even to the prosecution and defense,” he said in an interview with radio dzBB on Sunday.

“It goes without saying that they all our senator-judges must be present [during the trial],” he added.

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READ: Sara Duterte Impeachment Trial: Everything you need to know

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But Gatchalian also said the impeachment proceedings should not be turned into a venue for discussing other matters, including questions surrounding his election as senate president.

Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano earlier warned that the fairness of the impeachment trial may be “at risk” pending the Supreme Court’s decision on the petition he filed seeking to declare the June 3 Senate session that installed Gatchalian as Senate President null and void.

Cayetano recently filed a manifestation reiterating his plea for the Supreme Court to rule on the petition.

“The [leadership] change and other matters were done by the Senate as a legislative body. So the process and its concept [should be raised there]. This is an impeachment court, so this is not the venue to discuss that again even if it’s already over. If some of our colleagues want to raise the issue, they should do it in the legislative body of the Senate,” explained Gatchalian, adding that privilege speeches on the matter should also be done during legislative session.

READ: Alan Cayetano, allies file SC petition to ‘protect’ Senate

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Asked if there was an assurance that all senators, including the minority bloc, would participate in the impeachment trial, Gatchalian said the attendance of Senators Loren Legarda and Robinhood Padilla during an all-senator caucus last week was very important for him.

“Their presence was a big deal and a big deal for me. They had a very active participation during the all-senator caucus,” he said.

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“So I can see that many of them have moved on from this issue, they want to go back to work and start the impeachment,” he said, referring to the previous leadership issue in the chamber.

But while the attendance of Senators Loren Legarda and Robin Padilla at the caucus may also signal their participation in the impeachment trial, Gatchalian said what is important is that there is a quorum, even if not all 24 senators are present.

Senators held an all-member caucus last Friday, attended by only 10 lawmakers: Gatchalian, JV Ejercito, Panfilo Lacson, Erwin Tulfo, Francis Escudero, Juan Miguel Zubiri, Vicente Sotto III, Risa Hontiveros, and minority senators Legarda and Padilla.

Gatchalian said some minority senators had reached out to him, saying they were unable to attend the meeting because of prior commitments or other important matters.

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Asked if Alan Cayetano was among those who reached out to him and congratulated him as the new Senate leader, Gatchalian said “Personally, none yet, but we will get to that point.” /dl