Robin, allies threaten to stop attending trial

MANILA, Philippines — It is possible for some senator-judges to soon stop attending the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, Sen. Robinhood Padilla said yesterday, when asked about the thinning attendance of minority senators on the Senate floor.

Speaking to dzBB, Padilla said minority bloc senators could “soon” discuss among themselves a collective decision to skip the proceedings as they have started to view the trial as “bending the Constitution.”

“There hasn’t been any talk about that yet, but there might be soon,” Padilla said with a chuckle when asked if there were talks to collectively skip the trial.

Pressed whether he was serious about the possible decision to skip the trial, he said: “Of course. After all, a lot of surprising things are happening.”

The senator’s remarks came amid a noticeably thinning attendance of minority senators on some trial days, with some skipping the trial day altogether and some leaving early or arriving hours later.

The impeachment court earlier said senators are allowed to monitor the trial from their offices.

Despite his physical absence on the Senate floor during some trial days, Padilla noted he continues to monitor the proceedings on television.