Senator Robinhood Padilla wants the responsibility of presiding over Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial to stay with Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian, and he signaled Monday that the chamber’s new minority bloc is prepared to fight any attempt to hand that duty to Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero.
Padilla framed the resistance as a matter of constitutional fidelity. “Kasi sa Constitution ang nakalagay dun ang dapat mag-preside eh Senate president,” he told reporters, pointing to the charter as the basis for keeping Gatchalian in the chair.
He cast the bloc’s expected opposition as ordinary legislative duty rather than hostility. “Kailangan naming i-oppose yun bilang kami ay minorya. Bilang kami, ay trabaho namin yun,” he said, adding: “Hindi ibig sabihin nag-aaway kami ah. Yun po ang trabaho ng minorya. I-check namin…check and balance namin yung majority.”
The flashpoint emerged after Senator Panfilo Lacson said the incoming majority had tentatively settled on Escudero to lead the impeachment court that will hear the case. That arrangement, however, remains unsettled. Gatchalian has said he expects to preside himself, noting no discussions have pointed elsewhere, while Padilla acknowledged the minority has not yet huddled on its own position.
According to Padilla, the bloc has had little chance to coordinate. “Matagal na kaming mga ilang araw na kaming hindi nakakapag-usap ng Minority magmula noong pumunta sila nung special session,” he said.
The dispute turns on a procedural change. Impeachment rules direct the Senate President to preside, but proposed Senate Resolution No. 430 would let the chamber elect a presiding officer by majority vote of those present. Inquirer noted that Article XI of the 1987 Constitution names a required presiding officer — the Chief Justice — only for the trial of a sitting president, and is silent on who must take the chair when other officials, including the vice president, are tried.
Duterte was impeached by the House for a second time in May, with the articles accusing her of culpable violation of the Constitution, graft and corruption, betrayal of public trust, bribery, and other high crimes. Her defense filed an answer on June 1 urging the court to throw the case out, and the pre-trial conference opened on June 18. The Senate first convened as an impeachment court on May 18.
