Gatchalian defends Hontiveros: Her question is 'very point' of impeachment trial
MANILA, Philippines — Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian defended Sen. Risa Hontiveros’ line of questioning in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, saying her queries targeted the "core" of the case despite being a step ahead of schedule.
Gatchalian said he sees logic in Hontiveros' questions given that senator-judges must eventually weigh whether the evidence and testimony against Duterte all qualify as an impeachable offense.
"Yung kanyang tanong ay may sense, at in fact 'yun naman ang punto na gusto nating hanapin, 'di ba? (Her question made sense, and in fact that is the very point we want to establish, right?)" Gatchalian said in an interview at DZMM on Thursday, July 9.
"At the end of the day itong mga tanong, maglalahad ng mga ebidensya [at ang] koneksyon [nito] sa impeachable offense eh. So kaagad niyang naitanong 'yun," Gatchalian added. "Of course medyo na-preempt, dahil may proseso nga itong mga ganitong impeachment proceedings."
(At the end of the day, these questions will surface evidence that is tied to the impeachable offense. So she immediately asked that. And of course, it was a bit preemptive because there is a process for these kinds of impeachment proceedings.)
The Senate president's remarks come after a lengthy first three days of the trial, where Hontiveros' questions prompted Duterte-aligned senators Alan and Pia Cayetano to criticize her for supposedly jumping the gun.
Hontiveros drew presiding officer Sen. Chiz Escudero's attention twice. On Tuesday, she asked the prosecution why Duterte's assassination remarks were impeachable when no evidence showed she actually hired a hitman — a question that prompted private prosecutor Amando Virgil Ligutan to deliver what Sen. Pia Cayetano branded a premature "closing statement."
The next day, Escudero cut off her question to the defense on whether Duterte's threats would have been justified by the detention of her chief of staff, Zuleika Lopez.
While validating Hontiveros' intent, Gatchalian noted that the main issue was a matter of timing. He said impeachment trials follow a strict sequence, where evidence and testimony must first be formally presented by the defense and prosecution before the chamber can rule on them.
"Na-advance, pero napakahalaga 'yung kanyang tanong (It was advanced, but her question was very important)," he said, noting that the presiding officer had already addressed the matter and that the first week was an "adjustment period" for senator-judges, prosecutors and defense lawyers alike.
Wide latitude for senator-judges
Asked whether the presiding officer can stop his fellow senator-judge from asking a question, Gatchalian said senators have historically been given broad leeway, as seen in the trials of former President Joseph Estrada and former Chief Justice Renato Corona.
Hontiveros yesterday also said in her manifestation that past impeachment trials had given senators a wide latitude to ask questions.
Anything on a senator-judge's mind can be asked, Gatchalian said, and the presiding officer has no power to block queries, only to remind senators which questions should wait until the evidentiary basis has been laid.
Gatchalian gave the same reading of the flurry of objections that has slowed the trial, saying these are expected strategies of either side.
In the Corona trial, he recalled, objections piled up in the first two to three weeks then tapered off.
"Tingin ko mas bibilis yung mga proceedings (I think the proceedings will move faster)," he said.
3 days down, 90 to go
The impeachment court has finished the presentation of only one witness after three trial days, out of an estimated 90 trial days spread over roughly eight months.
Gatchalian admitted the chamber had hoped to be done with the second witness yesterday, but lengthy debates and questioning got in the way.
"Wala pa tayo sa 10% ng proceedings (We are not yet at 10% of the proceedings)," he said, adding that the Senate is consulting both the defense and prosecution on how to pick up the pace.
Next week, the prosecution is expected to present Duterte's chief of staff Zuleika Lopez, whom Gatchalian described as a possible hostile witness of the prosecution, along with other witnesses.
No subpoena for Duterte — yet
Gatchalian shrugged off questions about Duterte's appearance at the Senate despite skipping the hearing, saying no subpoena had been issued and neither panel had asked to put her on the stand.
On the prosecution's declared intent to eventually call Duterte to testify, he pointed to the right against self-incrimination and said it was too early to discuss and that senator-judges would do so at the appropriate time.
He also brushed aside a petition filed by a group of lawyers asking the Supreme Court to halt the trial over the election of Escudero as presiding officer.
The high court, he noted, issued neither a status quo ante order nor a temporary restraining order.
The Duterte trial is only the third impeachment case to reach a full-blown Senate trial, after Estrada's in 2000 and Corona's in 2012 — both of which ran for months.
- Latest
- Trending
