Hontiveros Chides Impeachment Court Spokesman

Sen. Risa Hontiveros yesterday chided the spokesman for the Senate impeachment court for setting the course of the trial proper, saying only the senator-judges like her can decide on the court's next actions.

- With Jose Rodel Clapano

Hontiveros was reacting to a statement Reginald Tongol made in a July 2 press briefing, that the new senator-judges who were elected in the midterm elections could not yet take their oaths before Sen. Francis Escudero before the court convenes on July 29. Escudero served as Senate president in the 19th Congress.

Tongol said this is because the House of Representatives prosecution team has yet to comply with a second court requirement for the panel to attest to its willingness to prosecute the case during the 20th Congress — which they can only do when the first regular session starts on July 28.

He added that in the 20th Congress, the senators must first elect a Senate president — who will sit as presiding officer of the court — before the new senator-judges can take their oaths. Escudero is vying to retain the post against his closest contender, former Senate president Vicente Sotto III.