Senate delay disrupting Duterte impeachment preparations - House prosecutor

Metro Manila, Philippines - The Senate delay on the trial of impeached Vice President Sara Duterte has disrupted efforts to prepare for the case, a lawmaker-prosecutor said on Monday, Feb. 17.

In a press briefing, 1-Rider party-list Rep. Rodge Gutierrez, a member of the 11-man prosecution team, said the House of Representatives can only proceed with general preparations at this point.

“There are difficulties in the sense na dahil hindi pa po gumagalaw ‘yung Senado, wala pa pong rules. Hindi pa po namin alam more or less kung ano pong mangyayari or what kind of proceedings they would require,” Gutierrez said.

[Translation: There are difficulties in the sense that the Senate is yet to convene, there are no rules. We do not know what will happen or what kind of proceedings they would require.]

“Kapag gumalaw na po ‘yung Senado [Once the Senate moves], at least preliminarily, at least regarding to the rules, kapag meron na po tayo mas idea kung [when we have a better idea of] which processes would be adopted from the rules of court, which processes would be dealt without, I think that would be easier for us in the part of preparation,” he added.

Senate President Chiz Escudero said the impeachment trial is set for July after the State of the Nation Address.

The House impeached Duterte before the session adjourned on Feb. 5. More than 200 out of the 306 representatives filed the complaint.

The grounds for impeachment were graft and corruption, betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the Constitution, and other high crimes.