Senate chief wants to keep impeachment rules

SENATE President Francis “Chiz” G. Escudero on Thursday said that he is looking to retain the Senate's Rules of Impeachment for the upcoming trial of Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio.

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Mr. Escudero said there were proposals from the legal team and various senators during the congressional recess to change the rules.

“The direction I am personally taking right now is to suggest to the impeachment court not to change the rules because the Senate and the institution of the Senate might be accused of changing the rules in the middle of the game to favor one side or the other,” the Senate chief said in a media briefing, in mixed Filipino and English.

Mr. Escudero added that he will propose that any changes in the impeachment rules should be applied to future impeachment cases.

He said that his proposal is still subject to the approval of the Senator Judges that will be sworn-in once Congress resumes in June.

“We can still discuss them, but they will be prospectively applicable to future impeachment complaints that will be discussed by the Senate and not to the current impeachment that we are facing right now,” he added.

Mr. Escudero also called on newly elected and re-elected Senators to refrain from giving out their positions regarding the upcoming impeachment trial.

“According to the rules, they should avoid giving out their categorical position regarding this until the trial has begun and they have not seen any evidence in favor or against the defendant,” he added.

Congress, which went on a nearly four-month long break on Feb. 8 for the midterm elections, is set to resume on June 2-13.