Back to square one

Senators decide to return complaint vs VP Sara to House

- HANNAH L. TORREGOZA and DHEL NAZARIO

The Senate, sitting as an impeachment court, decided last night, June 10, to return the impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte to the House of Representatives over various questions raised.

The Senate had earlier convened an impeachment court, with Escudero formally swearing in members of the Senate as senator-judges.

Before this, the Senate leader suspended the plenary session after Sen. Ronald Dela Rosa delivered a privilege speech to push for the dismissal of the impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte.

Escudero ruled that Dela Rosa's privilege speech and all other motions related to the impeachment complaint be tackled by members of the Senate sitting as senatorjudges and as an impeachment court.

The senators then donned their impeachment robes, except for Senators Imee Marcos, Cynthia Villar and Robinhood Padilla.

Marcos took her oath but said she made it in ad cautelam, which means "for caution" or "for more abundant caution." "I make this oath ad cautelam without prejudice to the resolution of the jurisdictional issue as well as issues pertaining to the validity of the impeachment complaint or to the filing thereof if any," Marcos said.

Padilla also participated in the oath-taking but said he is doing it "with reservation." Dela Rosa's motion to dismiss was set aside when Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano proposed to return the impeachment complaint to the House of Representatives, prompting Escudero to put the motion to a vote.

Earlier, Escudero scheduled the convening of the impeachment court on Wednesday, June 11, but he later on yielded to the motion of Sen.

Joel Villanueva to convene the Senate immediately as an impeachment court following Dela Rosa's privilege speech.