Senator-judges won’t grant interviews during impeachment trial

MANILA, Philippines—Sure, the media can cover the looming impeachment trial of Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, but they can’t interview senator-judges on the matter.

The senators have agreed in Monday’s caucus to inhibit themselves from granting interviews to reporters until the handing of final judgment, Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago said on Tuesday.

“The senator must inhibit himself or herself from giving any media interview touching the process of impeachment before final judgment,” she said in an interview.

In the aborted impeachment trial of then President Estrada in 2000 and 2001, the senator-judges were pulled out of the session hall for interviews on the developments in the trial, Santiago recalled.

“We can’t do that anymore. We’re observing self-inhibition,” she said.

The Senate has agreed to hold the trial when Congress resumes on May 9.

In view of the looming impeachment trial, the Senate would attempt to strike a balance between its legislative job and its role as an impeachment court, Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III said.

The Senate will hold the trial in the afternoon from Monday to Thursday, and call sessions in the morning also from Monday to Thursday, except Wednesday when it gives way to the Commission on Appointments’ proceedings.

The senators have agreed to hold the trial from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m., except Wednesdays when it would be adjusted to 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. in view of the CA proceedings that day, he said.

Friday has been set as the day for parties to file motions, he said.

“The legislative work of the Senate is priority. That’s why we will not relegate it to the back-burner even though there is an impeachment going on,” Sotto told reporters. “As a matter of fact, a few members of the Senate feel that the impeachment is not that important because of the rank of the official being impeached.”

Should the House transmit the articles of impeachment before the Congress’ adjournment next week for the Holy Week, the impeachment trial would not begin until the resumption of sessions on May 9, Sotto said.

The Senate will debate the rules of impeachment on Tuesday next week, adopted during the aborted 2000 impeachment trial of then President Joseph Estrada, for approval the next day, according to Sotto.

“With or without the articles of impeachment, we will adopt the rules to facilitate proceedings,” he said.

Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano said the Aquino administration should not rely on Gutierrez’s impeachment to hold corrupt people accountable.

“While the President is doing a good job in preventing corruption, I think efforts at holding the past administration accountable are not enough,” he told reporters.

He said President Aquino should mobilize the Department of Justice to mount fact-finding investigations of corruption in every department in the past Arroyo administration.

Even departments could do their own investigation, he added.

“Whether we call it a commission or a fact-finding committee, through an independent body or even using the DoJ, we have to chase after those who should be accountable to the people,” he said.

Since the truth commission was declared unconstitutional and the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission abolished, the Senate and the House had taken on the job of investigating anomalies, Cayetano observed.