VP Duterte may lose chance to defend self

Resolution faces challenges

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Lacson confirmed receiving a copy of the “undated, unnumbered, unauthored” document, but said he believes the draft resolution will face many challenges before it can achieve its goal, saying it may be overturned by the Supreme Court.

“I received a copy of the draft resolution from an insider in the Senate. It is making the rounds in the Senate so that if it gets enough signatures, it can be debated upon and possibly adopted if it has the support of the majority,” Lacson said in an interview on Radio DZMM. “But this is a resolution that can still be questioned before the Supreme Court. If the Supreme Court rules in favor of the petitioner, it can compel the Senate to continue with the impeachment trial.”

The draft resolution sought the dismissal of the impeachment complaint against the second top official of the land citing a lapse of more than 100 days since the Articles of Impeachment were transmitted to the Senate without any corresponding action from the Senate—which is set to adjourn sine die on June 14.

The same draft copy also claimed that the Senate rules prohibit impeachment proceedings from being carried over to the 20th Congress.

“Even if a majority of senators signed the resolution, it must be formally adopted in plenary. If the signatories change their minds and withdraw support, there is a chance the resolution won’t be adopted,” Lacson said.

Even if the resolution is adopted in the Senate it cannot also be deemed final, the lawmaker said

SC may intervene

“It is still possible that someone files a petition with the Supreme Court questioning the resolution, and the SC compels the Senate to convene into an impeachment court,” he said.

Sen. Marcos, when asked to verify the authenticity of the document now circulating in the Senate, said: “One of the many drafts with different objectives, I think that’s the third copy that I saw.”