Sara Duterte Impeachment Trial to Push Through Despite Father’s ICC Battle
SARA DUTERTE – The impeachment trial of Sara Duterte will proceed as scheduled despite her father’s ongoing case at the ICC.
Senate President Francis Escudero confirmed yesterday that the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte will proceed as planned, despite the ongoing legal issues faced by her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, at the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Escudero clarified that the impeachment proceedings and the ICC trial are unrelated and should not interfere with each other. “Those are separate incidents. I don’t see any connection between the two, and it’s not a reason to delay anything the Senate needs to do regarding our work here and whatever is happening in The Hague,” he stated.
He also emphasized that no law mandates the postponement of the impeachment trial due to the ICC’s actions. “There is no law that says we will postpone the impeachment because of the ICC. There is nothing in the law that allows us to postpone the impeachment because of a protest action,” Escudero added in Filipino.
The Senate President previously proposed a timeline for the impeachment trial, which would start with the reading of the Articles of Impeachment on June 2, followed by the approval of revised trial rules. “As I said before, that is a proposed schedule. We have furnished both the House and the Vice President, as well as the members of the Senate. All of this will be final and decided when we resume, depending on whether this is supported by the majority of the Senate members and the impeachment court,” Escudero explained.
According to the report, in his remarks, Escudero also noted that Vice President Duterte is not required to personally attend the impeachment trial unless the impeachment court specifically calls her. This is especially true if she is busy with other responsibilities, such as assisting her father in his legal matters. “However, I don’t think this will be an issue since everyone already knows her,” he added.
Thus, despite the political turmoil surrounding the Duterte family, the impeachment trial will move forward as scheduled.
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