黑料社

MANILA, Philippines 鈥� House Deputy Majority Leader Paolo Ortega should 鈥渟tudy more鈥� about the impeachment proceedings against Vice President Sara Duterte, especially during the session break,聽Senate President Francis 鈥淐hiz鈥� Escudero said on Wednesday

Escudero made his remark after Ortega criticized the upper chamber, saying that if it could hold hearings during recess, it should also be prepared to uphold its constitutional duty and act on the impeachment case against Duterte.

According to Ortega, justice delayed is justice denied, noting that if the government wanted to maintain public trust, they need not treat anyone higher than the law.

搁贰础顿:听Senate break not reason to defer VP impeachment trial 鈥� Monsod

鈥淚f there鈥檚 time for other issues during recess, why can鈥檛 we dwell on issues that have a deeper effect on our country? The Senate has a mandate as an impeachment court, and we are expecting them to do their job without hesitation,鈥� Ortega said in Filipino.

This did not sit well with Escudero, who reiterated that impeachment proceedings could not start while the Congress was not in session.

鈥淚 think Cong. Ortega should 鈥渟tudy pa more鈥� regarding the difference between motu propio hearings that can be done when Congress is not in session and impeachment proceedings that cannot be commenced during recess,鈥� Escudero said in a statement.

鈥淎gain, may I advise him and his other co-prosecutors to instead make the most out of this period and study/build their case because when we start, we will not allow any delays whatsoever,鈥� he added.

Escudero said this should be the case 鈥� unless Ortega would want to sabotage the impeachment case by 鈥渁dding yet another ground for the opposing party to question the proceedings.鈥�

鈥淧erhaps he may also want to get clearer signals from the speaker who is quite satisfied and has never questioned the Senate鈥檚 actions, preparations, and preparedness,鈥� Escudero said.

In a historic move on Feb. 5, the House impeached Duterte, garnering over 200 signatures from lawmakers.

On the same day, it transmitted the articles of impeachment to the Senate, but the upper chamber adjourned its session without tackling the document.

To date, the document remains pending before the upper chamber, with Escudero saying that the actual trial would only start after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had delivered his fourth State of the Nation Address in July.