Upper Chamber Confirms It Will Set Aside Personal Ambitions for the Duration of Proceedings, Estimated at Twelve to Eighteen Months, Before Resuming Them Immediately Afterward

Bohiney Magazine | The London Prat

MANILA, PHILIPPINES — The Philippine Senate convened in special session Thursday to prepare for its role as an impeachment court in the trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, with Senate President Francis Escudero confirming that the chamber would conduct proceedings with impartiality, solemnity, and what he described as “the full weight of constitutional responsibility,” a phrase legal observers said was entirely appropriate and that political observers noted would be tested by the circumstance that at least nine of the twenty-four senators currently serving are considering presidential runs in 2028, making the Duterte trial simultaneously a constitutional proceeding and the most consequential audition for national office since the last time the Senate tried a vice president, which was also quite consequential for several senators’ subsequent electoral careers.

The Challenge of Being Both Judge and Candidate

The Philippine Constitution vests the Senate with the exclusive power to try all impeachment cases, and senators sitting as judges are required to take an oath to administer justice without fear or favour. Constitutional law professors at the University of the Philippines note that this requirement applies regardless of senators’ political ambitions, electoral calculations, or the fact that their vote in a high-profile trial will be analysed by every political strategist, pollster, and regional party machine in the country in terms of what it means for 2028. “The oath says without fear or favour,” said Professor Maria Santos of the UP College of Law. “It does not say without awareness of the downstream implications. Awareness is not favour. This is a distinction senators will presumably make every morning when they wake up.”

Senator Imee Marcos, the President’s sister and a figure whose relationship with the Duterte family has evolved considerably over the past three years, said she would approach the trial “with an open mind and a commitment to the evidence.” Several political analysts described this as an extremely well-constructed sentence. Senator Kiko Pangilinan, who has been more publicly critical of the Duterte administration’s legacy, said he would vote according to the merits. Three other senators asked about their approach said they were “still reviewing the articles,” which Senate veterans said was standard language for “I have an opinion but I want to see which way this is going first.”

Procedural Questions the Senate Must Resolve Before the Trial Begins

Before the trial proper can begin, the Senate as an impeachment court must resolve several procedural questions including: the composition of the prosecution panel, the rules governing evidence and testimony, whether Sara Duterte will testify in person, and what to do about the senator who is reportedly related by marriage to two members of the prosecution team, a relationship that legal staff said was “not technically a disqualifying conflict” but that everyone agreed made seating arrangements complicated.

The transmission of the impeachment articles from the House also requires the Senate to formally constitute itself as an impeachment court, appoint a presiding officer, and issue a summons to the respondent. All of these steps involve votes, all of which will be analysed as early indicators of the Senate’s ultimate disposition, meaning the impeachment trial begins, in analytical terms, before it formally begins, which constitutional scholars described as “very Filipino” in a way that was intended affectionately.

The trial is expected to last between six months and two years, depending on the complexity of evidence, the availability of witnesses, the number of motions filed, and what one veteran senate staffer described as “the general velocity of things,” a factor she said was difficult to quantify but essential to any realistic timeline assessment. She said her personal estimate was fourteen months, plus or minus four months, plus or minus the election calendar.

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What a Fair Impeachment Trial Actually Requires and Whether the Senate Can Provide It

Constitutional law scholars have spent considerable time since the House vote examining what a constitutionally sound Senate impeachment trial requires and whether the current Senate is positioned to provide it. The requirements are clear in outline: senators must take an oath to administer justice, the respondent must be given due process including the right to be heard and to present evidence, and conviction requires a vote of two-thirds of all senators, meaning seventeen of twenty-four. The challenges are structural: there is no independent judiciary overseeing the process as there would be in a criminal trial, the presiding officer is the Senate President who is himself a political actor with interests in the outcome, and the evidentiary rules will be determined by the same senators who will ultimately vote on conviction. Legal scholars describe this as “an inherently political process with constitutional guardrails” and note that the guardrails have historically been more or less effective depending on the specific composition and political moment of the Senate in question. Professor Carlos Medina of the Ateneo de Manila School of Law said the current Senate had sufficient members of genuine legal expertise to ensure a procedurally sound process if they chose to apply it, and that the question of whether they would choose to apply it was “above my professional pay grade and squarely within my personal anxiety.” He said this was a joke. He then said it was not entirely a joke. Reporters noted both statements.

SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/philippine-senate-impeachment-trial-impartial/