House Deputy Speaker and La Union 1st district Representative Paolo Ortega said Sunday that he is confident that the impeachment trial against Vice President Sara Duterte will still push through despite the ongoing leadership drama at the Senate, which will serve as the impeachment court.
Ortega said he is hoping the tension at the upper chamber will ease before the trial begins on July 6, 2026.
“When the dust settles, kapag nawala na itong bangayan, nagka-igihan na sila o nagka-usap, umpisahan na natin itong impeachment na trial. Kung ano man ang resulta niyan, importante po masagot yung tanong ng taong bayan,” he said in an interview with Super Radyo dzBB.
(When the dust settles, once this bickering stops and they reconcile or talk it out, let’s start this impeachment trial. Whatever the result may be, what’s important is that the questions of the public are answered.)
“At the end of the day, ang importante ay ma-resolve nila yung issues. Kahit si Senator Alan Cayetano, sinabi niya na ‘forthwith’ ang impeachment, so wala rin akong nakikitang rason na hindi masunod yung calendar na July 6,” Ortega added.
(At the end of the day, the important thing is for them to resolve the issues. Even Senator Alan Cayetano said the impeachment is ‘forthwith,’ so I also don’t see any reason why the July 6 calendar shouldn’t be followed.)
After he was installed as Senate President last May, Cayetano earlier assured the upper chamber will convene as an impeachment court “forthwith” upon receipt of the Articles of Impeachment against Duterte from the House of Representatives.
But with the recent shakeup at the Senate, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, who is being recognized as acting Senate President by his 12-member bloc, said he would preside over the impeachment trial.
For his part, Ortega believes the disputes within the Senate will be resolved as soon as possible.
“Gusto namin talaga ma-resolve na nila yung internal issues nila […] Umaasa kami na magkakaroon ng peaceful na resolution ‘to, sana sa mas lalong madaling panahon po makapag-usap na sila,” he said.
(We really want them to resolve their internal issues […] We are hoping for a peaceful resolution to this, and hopefully, they can talk to each other as soon as possible.)
Meanwhile, former senate president Franklin Drilon said that the impeachment trials against Duterte can still push through even with only 12 senators present.
“’Yung 16 ay kailangan lamang sa judgement of conviction. Sa pang araw-araw na paglilitis ng impeachment trial, hindi kailangan ang 16. Ang kailangan ay quorum lamang. Ang quorum sa Senado siya rin ang quorum sa impeachment court. Kaya hindi pwede na walang 16 dahil ang quorum sa ngayon ay tinatanggap na 12 lang,” he said in another interview with Super Radyo dzBB.
(The 16 [votes] are only needed for a judgment of conviction. For the day-to-day proceedings of the impeachment trial, 16 are not required. What is needed is just a quorum. The quorum in the Senate is also the quorum in the impeachment court. That is why it cannot be argued that it can’t proceed without 16, because the quorum currently accepted is only 12.)
Duterte, through her legal team, formally filed last June 1 her answer to the Articles of Impeachment filed against her.
In their pleadings, Duterte’s legal team submitted that the Articles of Impeachment are “constitutionally infirm, procedurally defective, and substantively deficient”. They also sought the dismissal of the impeachment case against the Vice President.
Ortega said that whatever will be the response of Duterte’s team should not be a hindrance to her trial.
“Hindi pwedeng maging rason o kahit anong cause of delay o kahit anong cause ng pagaantala na hindi matuloy yung impeachment. So kahit ano man opinyon ng Office of the Vice President or nung defense team, hindi po magiging hadlang para ituloy yung calendar ng impeachment,” he said.
(It cannot be used as an excuse or any cause of delay or any cause of postponement to not push through with the impeachment. So whatever the opinion of the Office of the Vice President or the defense team may be, it will not be a hindrance to proceeding with the impeachment calendar.) —RF, GMA News
