Lacson: Sandigan resolves detained senators' attendance in impeach trial

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Panfilo Lacson said Friday that the Sandiganbayan’s denial of Sen. Jinggoy Estrada’s bid to attend Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial may spare the impeachment court from acting on the proposal to communicate with the anti-graft court to allow detained senators to participate in the trial, saying such move from the Senate may possibly be seen as “interfering with an ongoing judicial process.”

His statement came as the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division on Friday junked Estrada’s motion seeking permission to attend the impeachment proceedings, ruling that the request lacked merit.

“That would spare the Impeachment Court from acting on the pending motion of Senator-Judge Alan Cayetano for us to ‘ask the Sandiganbayan to allow Senators Estrada (and Marcoleta) to participate in the impeachment trial,’ which may impliedly suggest that we are interfering with an ongoing judicial process,” Lacson said in a press release.

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READ: Cayetano to impeach court: Ask Sandigan to allow Marcoleta, Estrada to attend trial

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He added, however, that the matter still has to be discussed among the senator-judges and stressed that he was merely expressing his personal view.

On the first day of the impeachment trial last Monday, Cayetano proposed that the Senate impeachment court communicate with the Sandiganbayan to allow Estrada and Marcoleta, both detained while facing plunder and graft charges, to attend the proceedings as senator-judges.

Cayetano made the proposal after presiding officer Sen. Francis Escudero affirmed that a conviction would require the votes of at least 16 senator-judges.

Meanwhile, earlier Friday, Senate impeachment court spokesperson Atty. Regie Tongol likewise said no action had yet been taken on Cayetano’s proposal.

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READ: Sandigan junks Estrada’s bid to attend Duterte impeachment trial

“I think the presiding officer made it clear already that that matter is not for the impeachment court to decide… It has to be taken up by the Senate as a legislative body,” Tongol told reporters during a press briefing.

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He added that the senator-judges’ immediate priority is preparing for the impeachment trial, including reviewing the applicable laws, rules of evidence, procedural rules, and the facts of the case. /jpv

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