House Speaker Martin Romualdez Speaks on Senate Archiving Impeachment Case vs. Vice Pres. Sara Duterte
MARTIN ROMUALDEZ – The House Speaker called the Senate’s move to archive the impeachment case of Vice Pres. Sara Duterte a “rushed burial”.
The Senate set August 6 as the day when the senators will decide on the Supreme Court ruling of the impeachment complaint against Vice Pres. Sara Duterte. The high court declared the Articles of Impeachment against the Vice President “unconstitutional” saying it did not follow the one-year rule in the Constitution.
House Speaker Martin Romualdez previously stressed that the power to initiate impeachments still belongs to the chamber. He also called on the members of the House not to “bow in silence” to the Supreme Court ruling while they recognize it. The lower chamber filed a motion for reconsideration.
Senate Pres. Chiz Escudero said they decided to have the discussion over the matter on August 6 to give the senators ample time to study the matter. The recent events sparked doubts among countless Filipinos on whether or not an impeachment trial will proceed.
Yesterday, all the senators were present during a session that focused on the Supreme Court ruling over Vice Pres. Sara Duterte’s case. Senate Blue Ribbon Committee chairman Rodante Marcoleta moved to dismiss the impeachment case against Vice Pres. Sara Duterte but Senate Minority Leader Tito Sotto moved to table the motion of Marcoleta.
However, Sotto’s motion lost with only five (5) votes. The senators proceeded to voting for the motion of Marcoleta. The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee Chairman agreed to change his motion from dismissing the impeachment case against the Vice President to archiving it.
During the voting, 19 senators supported the motion to archive the impeachment case against Vice Pres. Sara Duterte while only four (4) senators voted against it. Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson was the lone senator who abstained from making a vote.
YES
- Alan Peter Cayetano
- Pia Cayetano
- Ronald Dela Rosa
- JV Ejercito
- Francis Escudero
- Jinggoy Estrada
- Sherwin Gatchalian
- Bong Go
- Lito Lapid
- Loren Legarda
- Rodante Marcoleta
- Imee Marcos
- Robinhood Padilla
- Erwin Tulfo
- Raffy Tulfo
- Joel Villanueva
- Camille Villar
- Mark Villar
- Juan Miguel Zubiri
NO
- Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV
- Risa Hontiveros
- Francis Pangilinan
- Vicente “Tito” Sotto III
ABSTAIN
- Panfilo “Ping” Lacson
Recently, House Speaker Martin Romualdez reacted to the move of the Senate which he tagged as a “rushed burial” of the impeachment case against Vice Pres. Sara Duterte. Based on a report on ABS-CBN News, the House Speaker raised a question on the swift archiving of the case.
“Why the rush? To archive is, in effect, to bury the Articles of Impeachment. Yet the ruling of the Supreme Court is not final. On August 5, the House of Representatives filed a Motion for Reconsideration,” Romualdez said.
House Speaker Martin Romualdez further claimed that the Supreme Court allegedly found their arguments in the Motion for Reconsideration filed “serious enough” to require the camp of Vice Pres. Sara Duterte to submit their comments. He stressed that it is an active case.
“Let’s be clear: The filing of the complaint was not rushed. What was rushed—remarkably—was its burial,” the House Speaker said.
House Speaker Martin Romualdez maintained that the lower chamber moved in accordance with the Constitution in the impeachment case of Vice Pres. Sara Duterte. Based on the report, he stressed that are looking for answers that the Vice President never gave,
“We exercised that power lawfully, transparently, and in good faith—not out of spite, but out of duty. Not to attack, but to ask for answers—answers the Vice President never gave,” Romualdez said.
One of those who supported the archiving of Vice Pres. Sara Duterte’s impeachment case is Sen. Erwin Tulfo who also claimed that he wants the trial to push through.