Senate succumbing to public outcry: forthwith proceed this fourth month

Sara Duterte’s trial is to forthwith proceed – on the fourth month.

Senators have run out of alibis to delay her impeachment hearings.

Moreover, the thinking class has spoken. Professors, students, professionals, lawyers, doctors, clerics and ex-generals declared their expectation. Senators must summon moral courage and sense of accountability to try Sara once and for all.

The Vice President is charged with assassination plots, P612-million misuse, bribery, P2-billion unexplained wealth, extrajudicial killings, inciting to sedition and abuse of power.

Two hundred-plus signatory congressmen will attend today’s Senate reading of the Articles of Impeachment.

Raps as serious as those deserve public prosecution and defense.

Statements from dozens of civil society groups warn senators: we are watching you.

Eyes will be on three of several “Sara allies:” Chiz Escudero, Bato dela Rosa, Robin Padilla.

Escudero’s days as Senate President look numbered. Suspicions abound that he’s secretly pro-Sara. Snickers met his claim Monday that “I don’t like Sara, neither do I hate her.”

He has stalled Sara’s trial since Feb. 5th. All that time, group photos circulated online of him with Sara, her father ex-president Rody Duterte and their minions.

Escudero’s excuse for procrastinating was lame. He kept ranting that 240 of 306 congressmen took two months to investigate, gather evidence and transmit the case to the Senate. So why should senators hurry to tackle it?

His defiance of the constitutional provision to “forthwith proceed” with trial will go down in history. Infamous is his redefinition of the legal term “forthwith” to mean “when I want it.”

Murmurs were that he hindered Sara’s trial to keep the Senate Presidency. Perhaps he should have gone on the offensive, like raking up how House leaders doled election campaign funds for congressmen’s signatures.

But then, that would have provoked the latter to drag up as well Escudero’s secret increase of the Senate’s 2025 budget by P1.1 billion during the closed-door “bicam of two.” In fact, he has yet to explain that.

The Senate’s image has sunk. Word is that more mature and experienced senators will be nominated to replace Escudero in the 20th Congress. D-Day is session resumption on the fourth Monday of July.

Padilla is unabashedly biased. “Kahit sunugin mo ako dito, mangangamoy Rodrigo Roa Duterte ako,” he declared Monday. He’s president of the Dutertes’ PDP-Laban, swiped from Minority Leader Koko Pimentel.

Instead of Dela Rosa as originally planned, it was Padilla who presented to the plenary a resolution to dismiss Sara’s case outright. He alleged that Sara was deprived of her right to speedy trial because of the House’s two-month and the Senate’s four-month delays.

Padilla opposed Pimentel and Risa Hontiveros’ proposal that senators take their oaths as judges to commence trial. He prefaced by admitting that he’s not a lawyer but an ex-convict and has faced many criminal cases in court from which he acquired legal knowledge.

A former matinee idol, Padilla got the highest number of senatorial votes in the 2022 national election. Computer experts found it incredible, however, because he nonetheless garnered much less than the winning President and VP.

He distinguished himself by combing his moustache during Senate sessions. When more than two dozen showbiz celebrity candidates lost in last May’s election, thinking Filipinos thank Padilla’s conduct for that outcome.

Dela Rosa scoffed at two surveys that go against his partisanship. One had 88 percent of respondents demanding accountability from officials, and the other had 78 percent wanting Sara to be tried.

“Hindi ako abogado pero ako ay isang Pilipino na gusto sana na hindi na tayo magkakagulo sa Pilipinas, hindi tayo magka-watak-watak,” he said Monday.

“At ’yung mga nagyayabang diyan, sabi nila, gusto raw ng taumbayan na magkaroon kaagad ng impeachment, [taumbayan] lagi ginagamit, I don’t know kung sinong taumbayan sinasabi nila. Alam ko, halos lahat ng tao ng Mindanao at Visayas, sinabi sa’kin, ‘Sir, iboboto kita ku’ng hindi ka mag-boto sa impeachment o conviction’.”

Police are preparing how to arrest Dela Rosa if requested by the International Criminal Court. ICC investigators are looking into his role in Duterte’s bloody drug war that led to crimes against humanity.

Sara herself has said that she, Dela Rosa and four others are mentioned in the charge sheet against father Duterte. Dela Rosa may not be around long enough to acquit Sara.

Among the groups that have prodded the Senate to forthwith proceed with trial are the UP College of Law and Dept. of Political Science; Ateneo de Manila University, School of Government, Human Rights Center; Ateneo Schools of Law in Manila, Cagayan, Davao, Zamboanga, Naga; University of Santo Tomas; De La Salle University; San Beda University Graduate School of Law;

Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines; Conference of Major Superiors of the Philippines; Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines; Archdioceses of Lingayen-Dagupan, Cubao and Novaliches; Caritas Philippines; Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches; Iglesia Filipina Independiente; Church Leaders Council for National Transformation; Clergy and Citizens for Good Governance;

Makati Business Club; Brotherhood of Christian Businessmen and Professionals; Global Transformation and Transparency Advocates Network; Alyansa ng Nagkaka-Isang Mamamayan; 1Sambayan; Civil Society Partners for Good Governance; Advocates for National Interest; Akbayan; Makabayang Liberal; Bayan Muna; Nagkaisa Labor Coalition; Kalipunan; Tindig Pilipinas.

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