Senators hold caucus ahead of VP impeachment trial — ANC

[0:00] The Senate impeachment court has notified Vice President Sara Duterte to appear in person or [0:05] through counsel when her trial begins on Monday. The notice was sent to Duterte's counsel at the [0:11] Fortun, Narvaza and Salazar Law Office. In a separate notice, impeachment clerk of court [0:16] and Senate Secretary Renato Bantuck Jr. notified the House of Representatives that the Senate is [0:22] ready to proceed with the impeachment trial. Meanwhile, senators held an all-senators caucus [0:27] today to discuss the impeachment trial. Those present include Senate President Sherwin [0:32] Gatchalian, Senate President Pro Tempore Vicente Soto III, Majority Floor Leader Juan Miguel [0:38] Zubiri, as well as Senators Panfilo Laxon, JV Ejercito, Risa Ontiveros, Erwin Tulfo, Francis [0:45] Escudero, Minority Senators Robin Hood Padilla and Loren Legarda, also in attendance. [0:54] Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian confirms he will preside over the impeachment trial [0:58] of Vice President Duterte. His announcement puts to rest speculations that Sen. Francis [1:03] Escudero would be tapped to preside over the historic proceedings. Gatchalian says the Senate [1:09] as all systems go for the trial. [1:11] Handa na tayo at patuloy pa rin naghahanda dahil maraming mga bagay na nagbabago na dapat [1:21] rin natin paghandaan. So tuloy-tuloy. In fact, the other day nagkaroon kami ng meeting [1:29] with the security cluster kasama ang PNP, ang AFP, MMDA, Pasay LGU at pinag-usapan namin yung mga [1:38] pwede mangyari sa lunes. At marami rin naman nagsignify na gusto nalang magpahihwating ng [1:47] kanilang mga boses at saluobin. So yan din po ay pinaghahandaan rin mo natin. [1:54] Sa first day, yung mga administrative, preliminaries, papakilala yung defense, [1:59] papakilala yung prosecution, magbibigay rin sila ng kanilang mga opening statements. Patuloy pa rin [2:06] namin inaayos yung mga aktividad on the first day. [2:13] Meanwhile, Gatchalian says he expects all senators to take part in the proceedings. [2:19] He also weighed in on the debate over lowering the conviction threshold as Senator Dingo Estrada [2:24] remains in detention while Senator Ronald De La Rosa is in hiding amid an ICC arrest warrant for him. [2:30] Ina-expect ko naman mag-participate lahat ng kayang mag-participate. Alam naman natin yung iba [2:38] ay hindi makakapag-participate. For example, si Senator Dingo, hindi siya makakapag-participate. [2:45] Si Senator Bato De La Rosa, matagal nang hindi nakakapunta sa Senado. [2:51] So lahat ng physically pwede mag-participate, inaasahan natin magpapasok on Monday. [2:57] Kung 22 po yan, paano yung count po natin ng threshold, yung hindi ba kailangan natin [3:02] ng porsento for conviction? Paano po yun? [3:09] Hindi pa naman pag-uusapan yan on Monday. May tamang araw at tamang panahon para pag-uusapan yan. [3:20] A retired Supreme Court Justice and a former Senate President believe the country's high court [3:25] may ultimately decide the fate of Vice President Duterte's impeachment trial. [3:29] R.G. Cruz reports. [3:33] While the Philippine Supreme Court does not have any role in the impeachment proceedings, [3:37] it may have the final say on whether Vice President Sara Duterte ultimately gets convicted [3:42] or acquitted in her impeachment trial. [3:44] That is if the Senate insists on convicting, ousting, and banning her from government [3:49] even if it falls short of the 16 senators, or two-thirds of 24 needed for a conviction [3:54] due to the absence of some senators. [3:57] In that case, supposing the threshold should be 16, but the vote is only 15, but the Senate [4:06] tribunal enters a judgment of conviction, saying that the threshold has been met. [4:14] Then that can be questioned as a grave abuse of discretion, in my view. [4:20] So unless there is grave abuse of discretion, the Supreme Court cannot intervene. [4:26] If there are only 15 senators who will convict, the majority will say you are convicted [4:35] and therefore you are dismissed from being removed as a Vice President. [4:43] The Vice President will go to the Supreme Court and allege that the majority abused its discretion [4:52] and invoke the power of the Supreme Court to correct abuses of judgment. [4:58] There were also less than 24 senators in the trials of then President Joseph Estrada [5:02] and Chief Justice Renato Corona in 2000 and 2012, following the election of some senators [5:08] to higher office or the death and sickness of others. [5:12] But the voting threshold never became an issue because the Estrada trial did not get to vote [5:16] on a verdict due to ETSA-DOS, while Corona was convicted overwhelmingly. [5:21] The Duterte trial will see the extended absence of Senator Ronald De La Rosa, [5:25] who is in hiding from an international criminal court warrant, [5:29] while Senator Jingo Estrada is suspended and detained as he faces trial for plunder. [5:33] In my opinion, the suspension of a senator does not remove that senator from the office. [5:41] He's still a member of the Senate. [5:44] What the Supreme Court said in one case is that someone suspended cannot hold public office. [5:51] What it means is he cannot exercise the public office. [5:55] But the position is still occupied by him or her. [5:59] Drelon, however, points to the absurdities of not adjusting. [6:02] Suppose 10 senators will resign. [6:06] Then you would only have 14 senators. [6:10] If there are only 14 senators, are you telling me that we cannot enforce an accountability measure [6:19] in the Constitution, which is impeachment? [6:22] In other words, you defeat the constitutional power of Congress to impeach an official [6:31] because there are less than the 16 number indicated in the Constitution. [6:39] There is a rule in statutory construction. [6:42] You cannot interpret a statute to the point of absurdity. [6:47] The question remains, will the public accept it? [6:49] Yun ang problema, dahil nga kasabi rin natin, it is still the court of public opinion. [6:55] Ngayon, kung if the administration will try to take that crucial three-point shot by eliminating all the pro-Duterte senators, [7:07] baka hindi rin ito tanggapin ng publiko. [7:11] A warning shared by Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano. [7:14] Are we going to really have an impartial trial or aayusin at luto na ito? [7:19] Are we going to tell them the truth that dapat 16 to convict? [7:22] Or babawasan ba natin ang 6 na senador para maging 12 na lang? [7:26] Before these, Senator Panfilo Laxon and Senate President Sherman Gachalian already stated their belief [7:31] that 16 senators are needed for a conviction. [7:35] Laxon floated a proposal to allow detained senators to still sit as judges in the trial. [7:40] RG Cruz, ABS-CBN News. [7:44] The Philippine National Police has announced it will deploy 6,000 personnel around the Senate Monday [7:49] to secure the opening of the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte. [7:54] The PNP Public Information Office says its comprehensive security plan is already in place ahead of the proceedings. [8:03] To monitor any threats that there might be, the PNP will be conducting a final coordinating conference [8:09] among all units for the final preparation. [8:15] And we have not yet received, to anticipate your next question, [8:18] we have not yet received any special requests to deploy personnel inside the Senate premises. [8:25] The Armed Forces of the Philippines reaffirms its loyalty to the Constitution [8:33] amid continuing calls for the military to intervene in the country's political situation. [8:38] In a statement, the AFP says, [8:41] The loyalty of the military remains anchored on the Constitution, rule of law, and the civilian authority. [8:48] The military also strongly condemns any attempt to drag the organization into partisan politics. [8:53] The statement comes amid heightened political tensions ahead of the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.