Hontiveros: Delay of impeachment a ‘betrayal of constitutional duty’

Senator Risa Hontiveros (Photo: Senator Risa Hontiveros/Facebook)

By Wilnard Bacelonia, Philippine News Agency

MANILA – Senator Risa Hontiveros on Wednesday raised alarm over the Senate’s repeated postponement of Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial, warning that continued delays risk betraying the Constitution and public trust.

“Time to move. Not a moment more to lose. Apat na buwan na pong hinihintay ng taong bayan ang aksyon namin (The people have been waiting for our action for four months),” Hontiveros said in an interview over Saksi sa Dobol B, reacting to the decision to reset the trial’s start from June 2 to June 11.

Hontiveros emphasized that the Constitution does not grant the Senate discretion on when to begin the trial, pointing to the clear mandate that the chamber “shall forthwith proceed” once the articles are transmitted.

“Hindi po kapag ready na, hindi kapag convenient, kundi shall forthwith proceed. Kung tatalikuran namin ang tungkulin na yan, hala, para na rin namin tinalikuran ang taong bayan (Not when it is ready, not when it is convenient, but shall forthwith proceed. If we abandon that duty, then it is as if we have abandoned the people),” she said.

She cautioned against any move by the majority to vote down the trial or delay it beyond the end of the 19th Congress, calling it a dangerous precedent.

“Holding a vote, kung sakali, to abort an impeachment trial, naku, magiging grotesque na subvert po yan ng kapangyarihan ng Senado kaugnay ng impeachment. Magiging pong yang wholesale na pagtaksil sa, di lang sa aming constitutional mandate nga eh, pero dun mismo sa tiwala na ipinagkaloob sa amin ng taong bayan (Holding a vote to abort an impeachment trial, that would be a grotesque subversion of the Senate’s power in relation to impeachment. It would be a wholesale betrayal of, not only our constitutional mandate, but the very trust that the people have placed in us),” she said.

Citing Supreme Court jurisprudence, including Chavez v. JBC and Pimentel Jr. v. Joint Committee of Congress, Hontiveros maintained that impeachment is a non-legislative function and that the trial can legally continue in the next Congress.

Hontiveros also disclosed that the decision to delay the presentation of the House prosecutors was not discussed with all senators, noting that it was simply announced without prior consultation.

The real threat, she said, is not running out of time but abandoning the Senate’s duty to hold public officials accountable, which she described as a wholesale betrayal of its mandate and of the trust granted by the Filipino people.