House prosecutors are ‘stubborn,’ they make things ‘difficult’ – Escudero

Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero answers questions from media during the Kapihan sa Senado in this file photo taken in October 2024. (INQUIRER photo / NIÑO JESUS ORBETA)

MANILA, Philippines— The “stubbornness” of the House of Representatives’ prosecutors in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte does not escape Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero.

Escudero himself mentioned this when asked in a press conference about the latter’s compliance with the orders of the impeachment court.

“I don’t want to jump the gun. Given how stubborn they are, since they won’t even accept the pleading, I wouldn’t be surprised if they will actually do that,” Escudero said.

“Imagine, accepting the order, the pleading, the answer, even the appearance – they make all of that difficult. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised anymore,” he observed.

“But we will face each other at the right time regarding what they are doing right now,” he further said.

Escudero was being asked about the possibility that the House prosecutors would not be able to comply with the second order of the impeachment court which is for the House of the 20th Congress to communicate to the Senate that it is willing to pursue the case against Duterte.

The first order was for the House to certify that it did not violate the one-year rule on the filing of impeachment complaints.

Escudero said he could not understand why the House prosecutors were making it difficult to follow orders when they are the ones eager to push for Duterte’s impeachment.

Over 200 House lawmakers voted last February 5 to impeach the vice president over alleged misuse of confidential funds, failure to disclose all her assets and properties in her statement of assets, liabilities and net worth, and assassination threats against President Ferdinand “Bongbong “ Marcos  Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez.

It was only on June 10 that the Senate convened as an impeachment court. /apl

(NOTE: The English translations in the article were AI-generated.)