Former Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile Speaks on Senate Handling of Duterte’s Impeachment
JUAN PONCE ENRILE – The former Senator reacted to the way that the Senate handled the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte.
The Senate impeachment court returned the Articles of Impeachment to the House of Representatives — a decision that shocked countless people and gathered opposing views. Senate Pres. Chiz Escudero clarified that the return of Duterte’s impeachment to the House does not come with an intention to dismiss the case against the Vice President.
The Senate questions the constitutionality of Duterte’s impeachment and also sought a reconfirmation from the 20th Congress. According to Escudero, it is a chance for the prosecution team to answer questions before the impeachment court decides on the issue. However, for some people, it is allegedly another delaying tactic on the trial against the Vice President.
Several politicians including incumbent government officials insisted that the Senate should have acted immediately on Duterte’s impeachment trial. Recently, in an interview with Inquirer, former Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile revealed that he shared the same view with regards to the “forthwith” rule on impeachment cases.
According to the former Senator who was a senator-judge during the impeachment trial of former Pres. Joseph Estrada and the presiding officer in the trial of former Chief Justice Renato Corona, he does not know if the rule was changed but it is clear in the Constitution that the Senate should try and decide.
“I do not know whether they changed the rule. The Constitution is very clear, that you must forthwith try and decide — of course when you say try, you must hear the evidence and then decide whether to acquit or convict,” he expressed.
Based on the report, former Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile also stressed that they never experienced sending back an impeachment to the “impeaching authority which is the House of Representatives”. The former Senator insisted that the lower House did its job after 215 lawmakers approving the impeachment.
“The House did its function, they conducted hearings, they found something wrong, you may not agree with them, but they found that, and they submitted it to the Senate for resolution. The Senate is supposed to do its job with reasonable speed, for the Constitution says forthwith,” Enrile said.
Furthermore, Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile claimed that the Senate cannot order the House to do something that the lower chamber has done being “co-equal”. According to him, the delay in the trial seemingly shows that the Vice President does not want to face it.
Previously, it was confirmed by the Senate that 16 lawyers have made their appearance as defense counsels of Vice Pres. Sara Duterte in the impeachment trial.