EDITORIAL — The Senate on trial

The Senate convened yesterday as an impeachment court for the trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, approving the issuance of an order summoning her to appear before the chamber.

Despite the announcement that the summons would be issued, speculations persist that the senators – with pro-Duterte supporters maintaining a slim majority – might again decide not to proceed with a trial, even if this goes against their constitutional mandate.

Such concerns persist because senators in the previous 19th Congress, instead of trying the case forthwith as provided in the Constitution, remanded to the House of Representatives the first Articles of Impeachment against the Vice President in June last year.

This time, the transmittal of the complaint by the House to the Senate took place on the same day that Sen. Ronald dela Rosa emerged from nearly seven months of hiding to cast a crucial vote for Duterte ally Alan Peter Cayetano to wrest the Senate leadership from Vicente Sotto III.

Dela Rosa, protected by his colleagues, then slipped out of the Senate in the dead of night, avoiding arrest for crimes against humanity for which he is wanted by the International Criminal Court.

Cayetano maintains that the Senate leadership change was not related to the Vice President’s impeachment. The coming days will show if he is telling the truth.

He has at least delivered on his pronouncement as he took over the Senate presidency, that he would convene the impeachment court as soon as the chamber receives the complaint from the House.

Whether the trial itself will proceed forthwith remains to be seen. Cayetano has correctly pointed out that the Senate itself is on trial. So far, the unprecedented tumult in the chamber since his takeover last week does not inspire confidence.

Almost overnight, Cayetano and the Senate have become punchlines, the subjects of unflattering memes, with the chamber seen as a refuge for scoundrels.

On this chamber rests the responsibility of upholding accountability in public office. The nation can only pray that senators will prove equal to the task.