Hontiveros, Pimentel urge 'cold neutrality' in impeach court as senator-judges

MANILA, Philippines — Upon the impeachment court's convening, the two-member minority bloc issued a plea for judicial integrity, urging senator-judges to observe “cold neutrality.”   

This came after Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa's efforts to dismiss the impeachment complaint, a motion he first made before the court's official start and repeated after the senator-judges' oath-taking.

Sens. Koko Pimentel and Risa Hontiveros’ appeal included a specific request: that no legal objections be raised against the impeachment complaint unless first presented by the aggrieved party.

“In a court proceeding, since the judge should observe the cold neutrality of an impartial judge — ‘yung pagkakamali o pagkukulang alleged sa complaint, sa information (any errors or deficiencies alleged in the complaint, the information) — it should be the affected or [the] aggrieved party which should raise that before the judges in a collegial body,” Pimentel said, explaining his objection to the motion.

The senator-judge stressed that Duterte herself should be the one to raise any “constitutional infirmities” in the verified complaint, which was endorsed by over one-third of the House, before the impeachment court.

“‘Yun ang tamang kilos ng cold, neutral and impartial judge (That is the correct behavior of a cold, neutral and impartial judge). Let the parties point this out to us,” Pimentel said.  

He further argued that even considering the motion to dismiss, which he deems unconstitutional, the Senate, sitting as an impeachment court, should first await Duterte's official response to the impeachment complaint once summons are served. 

“Therefore, even if you want to entertain this, … in the normal court processes, this may even be premature to entertain, because let’s await the answer to be filed by the impeached official,” Pimentel added.  

Hontiveros echoed Pimentel's objection to Dela Rosa's motion, arguing that a motion to dismiss is not a valid means to end the impeachment process, as it does not exist even under the Senate’s own rules of procedure for impeachment.

Even if the rules permitted a dismissal mechanism, Hontiveros said the onus lies with the defendant, not the senator-judge, to identify any legal deficiencies in the complaint.

Instead, she suggested that the impeachment court first seek comment on the complaint's validity from the House prosecution panel and Duterte's defense before taking action.

“Ang due process ay nagrerequire na bigyan natin pareho ang prosecution at ang defense ng oportunidad na marinig sa bagay na ito,” Hontiveros added.  

(Due process requires us to give both the prosecution and the defense an opportunity to be heard on this matter.)

The Senate convened as an impeachment court a day earlier than scheduled after Dela Rosa moved to dismiss the impeachment process before their oath-taking as senator-judges. 

His dismissal attempt, however, quickly fizzled before the court convened. Several senators shot it down, arguing the Senate lacked jurisdiction over impeachment matters until it officially convened as a court.

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