‘You don鈥檛 buy the senators,’ Cynthia Villar quips on impeachment duty
Sen. Cynthia Villar doubts her colleagues would stop campaigning to prioritize the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte after Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel reminded them to focus first on their Constitutional duty to try and decide on impeachment cases “before anything else.”
MANILA, Philippines—Even Sen. Cynthia Villar doubts her colleagues would stop campaigning to prioritize the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte.
On Wednesday, Villar was asked about Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel’s reminder to fellow senators that they have a constitutional duty that should come first “before anything else.”
“Trabaho muna, bago boto,” Pimentel said in a message to reporters on Tuesday.
READ: Pimentel to draft impeachment rules; set stage for VP Duterte trial
He has been urging the Senate leadership to act immediately on the impeachment case against Duterte.
Article continues after this advertisementSought for comment at the weekly Kapihan sa Manila Bay, Villar asked: “Can you tell that to the senators? Can the Senate President tell that to the senators?”
Article continues after this advertisement“Baka sa House kaya kasi meron silang pakinabang (Maybe in the House because they would gain from it). But the Senate, you don’t buy the senators. They have their own money,” she added.
Villar believes the impeachment trial at this point is already “out of schedule” as Congress is already on break since February 5.
Seven of the 23 incumbent senators are seeking reelection— Francis Tolentino, Imee Marcos, Christopher “Bong” Go, Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa, Ramon “Bong” Revilla, Lito Lapid and Pia Cayetano.
Meanwhile, Villar and Pimentel are running for a seat in the House of Representatives while Sen. Nancy Binay is seeking a mayoral post in Makati City.
“Ako ang tingin ko, this is out of schedule na. If you have to be practical…” Villar said.
“Pero (But) I agree na it’s too much to ask the senators to come back and do impeachment while they are campaigning, yung seven na yun,” she said.
Villar also defended the Senate from criticisms over its alleged failure to immediately act on the impeachment case of Duterte when the 1987 Constitution explicitly states that it “shall forthwith proceed” with the trial.
She pointed out that the articles of impeachment was only transmitted to the Senate on February 5, the last day of session before Congress went on break.
READ: House impeaches VP Duterte; fast-tracking transmittal to Senate
“Last day of session dinala sa amin. Bigla nilang denecide na gusto nilang mag impeach tapos kami ang sisihin nila. Ba’t hindi nila pinadala earlier?” the senator asked.
(They brought it to us on the last day of the session. Suddenly, they decided they wanted to impeach, and now they’re going to blame us. Why didn’t they bring it to us earlier?)
