Senate ready to try VP Sara 14

Sen. Joel Villanueva took the floor and moved that the Article of Impeachment be referred to the Committee on Rules.

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Escudero subsequently took his oath as presiding officer, while the other senators will take their oath as senator-judges today.

Lawyer-solon 1-Rider Party-list Rep. Rodge Gutierrez, a member of the 11-person House prosecution panel, said the impeachment trial timeline being floated in the Senate doesn’t provide ample time for them to properly present their evidence against Vice President Duterte.

“Personally, I don’t think it would be possible on our part to just consolidate it with the two articles, the trail of the full Articles of Impeachment that we have lined up,” Gutierrez said, referring to a consolidation proposal.

There are seven Articles of Impeachment against the Vice President. The proposed timeline for the trial is from June 11 to 30—covering everything from the presentation of prosecution, the defense, and deliberation of the senator-judges.

The seven articles of impeachment against Duterte are as follows:

Article 1: Conspiracy to assassinate President Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and Speaker Martin Romualdez

Article 2: Malversation of P612.5 million in confidential funds

Article 3: Bribery and corruption in Department of Education (DepEd)

Article 4: Unexplained wealth and failure to disclose assets

Article 5: Involvement in extrajudicial killings (EJK)

Article 6: Destabilization, insurrection, and public disorder

Article 7: The totality of respondent’s conduct as Vice President

Gutierrez said the prosecution team maintains its position that Vice President Duterte’s impeachment case can still be tackled in the next Congress.

“The presentation still stands by that position that the impeachment can cross over to the 20th Congress as per jurisprudence of the US (United States) National Congress.”

At any rate, Gutierrez said the prosecution continues to prepare for an eventual Senate impeachment trial.