To the consternation of several civil society groups, the majority bloc went ahead and elected Francis Escudero as presiding officer of the Senate impeachment court.
Yesterday, the Duterte camp challenged the election before the Supreme Court, using it as a basis for asking the SC to stop the ongoing impeachment trial.
Escudero’s election was not entirely surprising though. The majority, it seems, had been set from the start to install him as presiding officer – a high-profile assignment that can provide him the redemption that he needs after his redefinition of “forthwith” in the first impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte.
That path to redemption, as seen from the peanut gallery, is Escudero’s reward for jumping last June 3 to what is now the majority bloc from the camp of Alan Peter Cayetano.
This allowed the then minority to declare a quorum, declare all positions vacant including that of the Senate president, and pick Sherwin Gatchalian as president pro tempore and acting SP, who formally adjourned the session sine die.
Was breaking the impasse and sabotaging the Cayetano bloc’s boycott worth Escudero’s reward? Last Monday, the majority gave us the answer.
From the start, as Senate business resumed, Sen. Panfilo Lacson had named no one else except Escudero as the one most likely to be picked as presiding officer of the impeachment court.
Following the backlash when this was floated, Gatchalian backpedaled, saying nothing was final yet, and the other lawyer in the majority, Francis Pangilinan, was also being considered. Escudero himself declared that it was mainly a rumor.
The last word from Gatchalian before Monday was that the Senate president is supposed to serve as presiding officer. But he did say that this would have to be put to a vote.
That vote proceeded, despite Alan Peter and sister Pia Cayetano’s insistence that the framers of the Constitution had meant for the Senate president to serve as presiding officer in the trial of a vice president.
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Apart from the issue possibly serving as a basis for the SC to nullify the impeachment trial, why would the Cayetano siblings be so opposed to Escudero being the presiding officer?
The guessing is that the minority senators detest Escudero not only for breaking ranks with them and making Alan Peter’s stint as SP one of the shortest ever, but also because they believe Senator Chiz to be doing the bidding of his “forever” buddies President Marcos and wife Liza.
The Cayetano bloc saw Malacañang’s hand in Escudero’s defection to the majority – not implausible, although of course denied by all the implicated parties.
What’s not certain is whether Malacañang and the majority share Escudero’s interpretation of the constitutional provision on the number of votes needed to convict an impeached official: two-thirds of all 24 senators, meaning 16 – regardless of whether certain members are unable to participate.
There was no objection from the majority so maybe they agreed with the ruling by the presiding officer. And maybe they are confident that voting on the trial would be based on evidence and would not follow the current division in the chamber, which ensures that the VP has more than enough votes to prevent her conviction and ouster.
Palace press officer Claire Castro, herself a lawyer, said the issue was up to the senators to settle among themselves.
Some legal experts have cited common sense in interpreting this constitutional provision. They ask what would happen if, heaven forbid, nine senators died together in an accident, and only 15 were left. How can the threshold of 16 still be complied with in case of an impeachment trial?
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The pro-Duterte camp has expressed suspicion that the administration is putting the current minority senators under arrest and detention without bail to bring down the number of senators who might vote to acquit Duterte, or at least refuse to unseat her even after conviction.
Acquittal or retention of her position would significantly strengthen Duterte in her bid for the 2028 presidency, where she remains the frontrunner based on surveys.
Such a scenario would spell doom for the Marcos clan, including BBM’s non-sister who has aligned herself with the VP. But Malacañang has consistently stressed that it cannot and will not interfere in the impeachment trial.
Alan Peter Cayetano, however, has raised a point that would render immaterial the absence from the trial of minority senators, who are seen to be pro-Duterte and expected to vote for acquittal. Cayetano said a vote not cast by a sitting senator-judge, whether deliberately or due to inability for whatever reason, is counted as a vote to acquit.
That gives the VP one sure vote for acquittal at this point: that of her father’s chief tokhang enforcer, MIA Sen. Ronald dela Rosa.
Both Jinggoy Estrada and Rodante Marcoleta, whose fellow INC members have intriguingly dropped their mass protests in his defense, have maintained that they would judge the case against the VP based on evidence. Whether their arrest and detention would influence their outlook in any way bears watching.
Also certain to vote for acquittal, regardless of whatever the prosecution presents, is Sen. Robinhood Padilla, self-proclaimed graduate of “UP” or the “University of Prison.”
Perceived to vote for acquittal (although the peanut gallery isn’t 100 percent certain) are the Cayetano siblings and BBM’s non-sister Imee. As for the rest of the minority senators, they are seen to be open to weighing the evidence and… suggestions.
That voting threshold is also likely to be brought to the SC. In the meantime, the impeachment trial enters its third day today. And so far, let’s give it to him: presiding officer Chiz has shown capability and aplomb in the role.