Numbers game

In the name of inter-parliamentary courtesy, the House of Representatives has notably remained quiet over the continuing Senate leadership struggle. The in-fighting among the senators, however, undeniably might likely delay the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte. Definitely this is what concerns their counterparts at the House, even as the bickering over the Senate leadership continued as they adjourned sine die last Wednesday.

Speaking a few hours before the latest Senate leadership coup took place that day, Lanao del Sur first district Rep. Zia Alonto-Adiong, one of the two official spokespersons for the House prosecution panel for the impeachment trial, echoed this concern at the Kapihan sa Manila Bay news forum. Before the sine die adjournment of the first regular session of the 20th Congress, the minority bloc wrested the leadership from the majority bloc with the defection of Sen. Francis Escudero.

Himself a former Senate chief, Escudero left the majority bloc headed by Senate president Alan Peter Cayetano. This enabled the minority bloc to resume session and elected Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian as Senate president pro tempore. Since they still lacked the required 12 plus one senator to elect a new Senate president, Gatchalian assumes as “acting” Senate chief.

As the Senate feud rages on, Adiong reassured the public the House prosecution panel is ready and prepared to present their solid case once the senator-judges convene anew the impeachment court. Adiong described the House-prepared four Articles of Impeachment as fully backed with overwhelming evidence to convince two-thirds of the senator-judges to vote for the conviction of VP Sara.

But the Senate leadership battle has divided into equal numbers the senators into the majority and minority blocs.

The 24-man Senate is less two senators for now. They are Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa – who has been dodging the Interpol warrant of arrest against him – and Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, now detained for the plunder case filed against him by the ombudsman for his alleged kickbacks in the so-called flood control project scam.

Cayetano was unseated three weeks after he got installed through a Senate coup last May 11 when Sen. Bato suddenly resurfaced after a six-month long absence to evade the ICC arrest warrant. The minority bloc is headed by now Senate minority leader Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, whom Cayetano booted out of the Senate helm.

With both blocs now having 11 members each, it created a deadlock situation. From last week’s dramatic walkout of the Senate minority bloc to the boycott of the Cayetano-led majority bloc for the past three session days this week, the feud has spilled over to their legislative duties as lawmakers. A veteran lawmaker, Escudero broke the deadlock when he stepped up to the call of his duties as an elected senator.

Speaking for the House prosecution panel, Adiong counts on the “statesmanship” of each and every senator to abide by their sworn duty to uphold and protect the country’s 1987 Constitution. Specifically, Adiong cited the need to uphold accountability of all government officials.

“Filipinos deserve to know the truth, to have clarity and for this issue to have closure. I still do believe that our senators also do understand that. This (impeachment trial) is a litmus test on how strong the fundamentals of our Constitution is,” Adiong stressed.

Thus, Adiong believes the other senators from the Cayetano-led majority bloc will remain impartial – even if they aligned with known allies of VP Sara – when they will act as senator-judges during the impeachment trial.

“I think the people are smart enough to notice that,” the Muslim lawmaker noted. Referring to the machinations of Duterte’s senator-allies, he shared the concern of the House prosecution panel in the obvious delaying tactics and diverting the public’s attention to internal wrangling among senators.

Adiong called attention to the latest Octa Research opinion survey that showed 74 percent of adult Filipinos indicated their keen interest to see the impeachment trial proceed. Although the senators are deeply divided, Adiong counts upon to their sworn duties as nationally elected officials of the land.

“I believe our senators – whatever their affiliation – would still have a sense of statesmanship,” Adiong declared.

For now though, Adiong disclosed the House prosecution panel has not yet received any official notice on how soon the Senate impeachment court will schedule the trial proper. Nonetheless, he cited, they conduct discreetly “mock trials” to prepare the House prosecutors in their respective presentation of evidence and witnesses in each of the four Articles of Impeachment.

“We are confident in our potential witnesses to appear before the impeachment court. Let the evidence speak,” Adiong pointed out.

“Our team is committed to finish this up to the end,” he stressed.

The House prosecution panel can heave a sigh of relief, at least for now. In his press conference yesterday at the Senate, “acting” Senate president Gatchalian announced he, too, is ready to assume as the presiding officer of the Senate impeachment court.

“Under the rules, since the Senate president pro tempore assumes as acting president, tayo ang magpi-preside ng impeachment,” Gatchalian asserted.

But since they switched back to the role of the majority bloc, Gatchalian explained, the senator-judges may need to retake their oaths. As to how soon this would be scheduled, Gatchalian admitted: “I have to consult with the clerk of court.”

While he was the sitting Senate president, Cayetano originally set the impeachment trial to start on July 6. Quoting the specific provision of our country’s Constitution, Adiong reiterated the impeachment trial must start “forthwith.”

Adiong conceded the impeachment trial is considered sui generis, a Latin phrase that literally translates to “of its own kind,” or uniquely operating in a legal class entirely by itself. In constitutional law, this means an impeachment trial cannot be classified strictly as a civil, criminal or administrative proceeding. Instead, it is a hybrid mechanism that blends legal rules with political judgment.

“It’s really a numbers game,” Adiong quipped.

We shall see how this numbers game plays out with the deeply divided senator-judges.