Return of impeach case to House is Duterte bloc’s plan all along

Minority Sen. Risa Hontiveros believes that it was the Duterte bloc’s plan all along to remand the articles of impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte to the House of Representatives. (From the office of Hontiveros)

MANILA, Philippines — Minority Sen. Risa Hontiveros believes that it was the Duterte bloc’s plan all along to remand the articles of impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte to the House of Representatives.

READ: Impeachment court sends Sara Duterte case back to House

In an ambush interview on Wednesday, Hontiveros said it appears that the plan of the Senate’s Duterte bloc — including Senators Bato dela Rosa, Bong Go, Robin Padilla, and Imee Marcos — was to block the impeachment proceedings against the country’s second top leader.

“Well, lumalabas na may ganoong plano, whether how long ago it was or how recently it was, na nag-materialize dun sa proposed motion nila na babala na namin ni Senator-Judge [Koko] Pimentel masyadong maraming dangerous words subject to interpretation at saka ambiguity,” said Hontiveros.

(It appears that there is a plan like this, whether how long ago it was or how recent it was, it materialized in their proposed motion that Senator-judge Pimentel and I had warned about the many dangerous words subject to interpellation and ambiguity.)

But regardless of whether it was a play or a maneuver, Hontiveros said the most important thing is the actions taken by the impeachment court on the floor.

“At yung naging action kagabi ay precisely i-remand ang articles of impeachment balik sa House of Representatives. Eh hindi naman ito PBA finals. Bakit ginawa yun ng Senado as an impeachment court?”asked Hontiveros.

(And the action taken last night is precisely to remand the articles of impeachment to the House of Representatives. This is not the PBA finals. Why did we do that as a Senate impeachment court?)

The impeachment court, with 18 votes, 5 negative, and zero abstentions, decided to return to the House the articles of impeachment against Duterte.

Hontiveros said the body’s decision introduces unnecessary ambiguity to the already politically charged proceedings.

READ: Sara Duterte impeachment: What you need to know

“That’s why I cannot accept this kind of wording. It is dangerous and disingenuous, particularly when the rules of court have suppletory application. The same purpose could have been achieved by merely asking the house prosecutors to file a compliance and clarify certain issues,” Hontiveros said.

“Wala pong remand o return sa Konstitusyon. Ang obligation natin – try and decide,” she emphasized.

(There’s no remand or return in the Constitution. Our obligation is to try and decide.)

In a separate interview also on Wednesday, Dela Rosa was asked to comment on claims that the motion he raised during Tuesday’s court proceedings was “scripted” and had been planned long ago.

The motion he initially raised was to dismiss the impeachment case against Duterte, but it was later amended by Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, who insisted that it would be better to return it to the lower chamber.

“Alangan, mag-prepare ka talaga. Alangan hindi mo i-ready,” said dela Rosa.

(Of course, you’ll prepare. Why will you not prepare for it?)

“Magmumukha kang tanga dyan kung  patayo-tayo ka. Scripted. Magsuntukan na nga si Senator Robin Padilla at saka si Senator Joel Villanueva. Iyon ang script na gusto niyo. Suntukan,” he said.

(You will look stupid if you just stand there. Scripted? Sen. Robin and Joel almost ended up in a fight.That’s the kind of script you want. For them to exchange blows.