Impeachment court can convene now, cross over to next Congress 鈥� Lacson
Former Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson
MANILA, Philippines — Former Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson believes there is no issue if the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte starts within the 19th Congress and crosses over to the 20th Congress.
This is based on the same principle used by the judiciary in hearing cases.
Lacson explained that a case that gets raffled to a particular division — like for the Sandiganbayan and the Court of Appeals — will not be transferred to another division should one of the judges retire or resign from his or her post.
The former senator expressed his opinion during the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum on Wednesday.
The same system, Lacson said, should apply to the Senate once it starts convening as an impeachment court.
Article continues after this advertisement“So ang thinking ko rin is, and I also heard this from several legal luminaries, ‘yung Senate as an impeachment court is akin to a Sandiganbayan division or a Court of Appeals division or even a Supreme Court division,” the former senator told reporters.
Article continues after this advertisement(So my thinking is, and I also heard this from several legal luminaries, the Senate as an impeachment court is akin to a Sandiganbayan division or a Court of Appeals division or even a Supreme Court division.)
“Pag may mag-retire na member ‘yung division, hindi na ito mahinto na lahat ‘yung kaso at ililipat na lang sa ibang division ‘di ba?” he wondered.
(When a member of the division retires, trial of the case will not stop and be transferred to a different division, right?)
“So tuloy-tuloy and Senate being a continuing body at may darating na 12 (senators) […] So continuing body, para rin ganoon sa mga court, higher courts natin – na hindi mahihinto ang kaso at hindi malilipat,” Lacson pointed out.
(So the hearings continue and the Senate being a continuing body, and with 12 senators coming in […] It’s a continuing body just like the courts, our higher courts – the cases would not stop and they won’t be transferred [to another division].)
“Hindi mawawalan ng jurisdiction ‘yung division maski merong umalis at merong pumalit na bagong justice,” he added.
(The division will not lose its jurisdiction even if a justice leaves and is replaced by another one.)
Duterte was impeached by the House in February 5, 2025 after 215 lawmakers filed a fourth impeachment complaint.
Then, the Senate was urged by some quarters to start its trial as the 1987 Constitution states that trial shall begin “forthwith” if the verified complaint was submitted by one-thirds of all House members.
With 306 lawmakers in the House, the goal was to get at least 102 members to sign the complaint.
However, the Articles of Impeachment were not sent to the Senate plenary before session ended on February 5.
This means that Congress will now have to reconvene first after the election season or through a special session to discuss the impeachment.
There were also questions whether or not it is proper for the Senate in the 19th Congress to start the trial when the 2025 midterms elections will surely change the composition in the legislative chamber.
For the House, it is also being quizzed if it is correct or wrong to appoint prosecutors since the lawmakers will have to get reelected first, if trial crosses to the 20th Congress.
Even former Senator Leila de Lima — supporter of moves to impeach Duterte and spokesperson for the first set of complainants — admitted last January 17 that these issues are open questions.
READ: VP Duterte’s trial next Congress? De Lima says it’s ‘open question’
But according to Lacson, he believes the Senate does not function as a legislative body in tackling the impeachment — which means, it will not be bound by legislative rules.
“My humble opinion, being a layman, kasi as an impeachment court, the Senate no longer acts as a legislative body. Actually, it is not legislative action being called when there is an impeachment trial. It’s a different constitutional body already,” he said.
“The complexion, the personality of the Senate changes. It becomes an impeachment court, and we would not tackle or do legislative action there, but an impeachment trial only,” he added.
“So I think it can cross over. But that’s me,” he concluded.
For his part, former Senate President Vicente Sotto III believes the Senate should have tackled the impeachment matter at the plenary last February 5.
He believes the move would have enabled the committee on rules to discuss the matter even during a session break.
“For us, what they should have done — this is just my opinion — if they received (the Articles of Impeachment), they should have reported it to the plenary, and that it be referred; the impeachment be referred to the committee on rules so that during the break, the committee on rules can act,” he said.
“They can talk about it. They can convene a hearing. They can convene a meeting […],” Sotto recommended.
“The Senate also always passes a resolution, sometimes every one year, every year, a resolution saying that the committees may continue and may conduct hearings during the break,” he further suggested.
“The committee on rules can act on this but I don’t know. It was their decision not to refer it to the plenary,” the former Senate leader observed.
Sotto was Lacson’s running mate in the 2022 presidential race and co-member of the Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas Senate ticket.
