Padilla: Gatchalian not Escudero should preside over Duterte trial

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Robin Padilla said on Monday that Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian, not Sen. Francis Escudero, should preside over the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.

Members of the Senate majority said they would elect Escudero to preside over the impeachment trial.

Asked whether he was in favor of Escudero presiding over the trial, Padilla disagreed, saying the Senate president should preside.

“The Constitution states that the Senate president should preside… It is clear from the Constitution that when the president is the chief justice, when he is down, it is the Senate president,” he said in Filipino.

READ: Senate majority picks Escudero to preside over Sara Duterte trial

He added that minority senators should “oppose” Escudero’s possible presiding.

“We need to talk about that. That is the job of the minority—check and balance,” he explained in Filipino.

Article XI of the 1987 Constitution does not specify who in the Senate must preside over impeachment proceedings of officials under trial, except for the president of the Philippines.

However, it is stated in the impeachment rules adopted in 2011 that the “president of the Senate shall preside over the Senate during the consideration of [the Articles of Impeachment] and upon the trial of the person impeached.” /mcm