The Palace said that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is highly unlikely to call a special session to start the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.
“Para pong the way we see it, it would be an awkward position on the part of the President to voluntarily call for a special session, considering that there is this ongoing intrigues that the President is behind the impeachment proceedings,” Palace press officer Claire Castro said in a Malacañang briefing.
“So, it is better for the Senate to request the President’ considering that even the President made this pronouncement’ that if the senate will ask him to call for a special session, he will do so,” she added.
Pro-impeachment lawmakers have criticized the Senate leadership for not promptly convening as an impeachment court, despite the Constitution’s clear mandate that the upper chamber should act on the impeachment “forthwith”.
“Marami pong mga iba-ibang klase ng opinyon but if you will look and read the provisions of the Constitution, you will see po to forthwith proceed, right? Pero wala pong makikitang time element. Is it to forthwith proceed even during recess? Because they can proceed definitely if there is session, there’s no question about that. But, to proceed during recess, gray area po iyan sa Constitution,” she said.
“So, they may forthwith proceed after the recess. Kapag may session po walang problema eh, they have to do. But during the recess, wala pong sinasabi ang Konstitusyon na you have to call for a special session to proceed with the impeachment proceedings or with the impeachment trial. Wala po kasing ganoon nakasabi sa Konstitusyon,” she added.
On Monday, three lawmakers from the Makabayan bloc in the House of Representatives urged the President to call a special session of Congress to allow the Senate to convene as an impeachment court. This call followed a statement from Senate President Francis Escudero, who said that the Senate cannot independently call for a special session.
Last week, Vice President Sara Duterte filed a legal challenge at the Supreme Court against her impeachment. In her petition, she questioned the validity and constitutionality of the fourth impeachment complaint, which was forwarded by the House of Representatives to the Senate.