Koko

"The said section or provision in our impeachment rules gives the directive that should there be both legislative and impeachment matters, the legislative agenda should give way to the impeachment proceedings," Pimentel said in a phone interview with reporters.

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For Pimentel, Escudero's invoking the need to pass priority legislation as a reason to reset the impeachment trial violates the "spirit of the rules."

Pimentel said he sees no reason for resetting the impeachment calendar because the full-blown trial will only happen in July during the next Congress, and not during the remaining days of the 19th Congress.

He said he will press the Senate leadership for more information at the plenary when session resumes on June 2.

Meanwhile, Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada defended the leadership's move to prioritize the passage of pending measures over the upcoming impeachment trial of Vice President Duterte.

He also denied the claim of incoming Mamamayang Liberal party-list Rep. Leila de Lima that the impeachment trial is "dead on arrival."

"We are not going to abandon our constitutional duty to hear the impeachment case," Estrada said.

The Vice President's impeachment trial was also not tackled during the recent meeting of the Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council at Malacañang on Thursday, Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said.