Manifestation of Senator Risa Hontiveros on the start of the impeachment trial of VP Duterte
June 09, 2025

I second the Motion of the good Minority Leader.

Forthwith and with no further delay- the Senate President must be placed under oath as Presiding Officer. He must then administer the oath to the Members of the Senate as judges of the impeachment court. And most importantly- the Articles of Impeachment, which have long languished in limbo, must forthwith be presented to the body.

First of all, the Constitution establishes with clarity the mandatory nature of impeachment, and this textual interpretation is supported by the framers.

Article XI, on 'Accountability of Public Officers', Section 3, subsection (4), states in no uncertain terms, that once "the verified complaint or resolution of impeachment is filed by at least one-third of all the Members of the House, the same shall constitute the Articles of Impeachment, and trial by the Senate shall forthwith proceed."

Hindi po mahirap intindihin ang utos, sa sinumang tapat ang intensyong sundin ito. Ang paglilitis ay dapat agarang simulan, nang walang pag-iwas o iba pang pagpapaliban. In fact, Retired Justice Adolfo Azcuna, who wrote the procedural section that included the word "forthwith" said that it meant and I quote, "immediately and without unreasonable delay, or in the national language official version, agad agad".

Sa kasong Chavez v. Judicial and Bar Council (G.R. No. 202242, na dinisesyunan noong July 17, 2012), ipinaliwanag ng Korte Suprema na sa pag-interpreta ng Saligang Batas- dapat gamitin ang karaniwang kahulugan:

"It is a well-settled principle of constitutional construction that the language employed in the Constitution must be given their ordinary meaning."

Simple lang po ang dahilan:

"The Constitution is not primarily a lawyer's document but essentially that of the people, in whose consciousness it should ever be present as an important condition for the rule of law to prevail."

Wala pong pagdududa: the impeachment trial must begin immediately. Agad-agad. Walang pag-iimbot.

'Yan rin ang paninindigan ng mga mismong naging bahagi ng pagbuo ng ating Konstitusyon, kasama sina Atty. Rene Sarmiento, Chairperson Christian Monsod, at ang nabanggit kong si retired Supreme Court Justice Adolfo Azcuna.

Kahit ang mga propesor at praktikante ng batas- sang-ayon na dapat simulan ang paglilitis sa lalong madaling panahon. Kasama dito ay mula sa Philippine Bar Association, University of the Philippines College of Law, Ateneo Schools and Colleges of Law, De La Salle University- Tañada-Diokno School of Law, San Beda University- Graduate School of Law, Philippine Law School, University of Santo Tomas, Philippine Law School, Lyceum of the Philippines-College of Law, Adamson University- College of Law, Colegio de San Juan Letran, at Union of People's Lawyers- Mindanao. I will submit these statements to the Secretariat, and ask that they be made part of the official records of the Senate, as annexes to this manifestation seconding the motion of the Minority Leader

Moreover, a textual reading of the provisions on impeachment vis-a-vis the other provisions involving the legislature actually supports the contention that the impeachment proceeding is not bound by the legislative calendar. Ayon sa saligang batas, "the Commission on Appointments shall meet only while the Congress is in session, at the call of its Chairman or a majority of all its Members, to discharge such powers and functions as are herein conferred upon it." There is no such qualifier to be found in the provisions on Impeachment.

Secondly, beyond the textual clarity of the Constitution, the law should be interpreted to give life to its spirit. Ratio legis est anima.

I am here before you to also appeal to the deeper purpose of the law. And the spirit of the impeachment power is unmistakable: it is accountability. It is to ensure that no public officer, however powerful, is above the Constitution.

Sinasabi nila na ang impeachment ay nasa Article XI, or Accountability of Public Officers portion ng ating Saligang Batas at hindi nasa Legislative Powers o Article 6, to underscore that impeachment was never meant to be part of the legislative process. Tama po iyon.

However, there is also a deeper reason to be fleshed out - it is because the power to impeach is, at heart- the power, nay the DUTY, to hold public officers accountable. And to protect democracy from the abuse of power by the highest public officials of our land. This process must not be rendered impotent through procedural subterfuge.

Dapat po nating alalahanin na ang salita at diwa ng mga probisyon ng Saligang Batas ay hindi dinisenyo para lang paglaruan ng mga abugado. Itinakda ang mga ito para bigyang kahulugan at kapangyarihan ang taumbayang Pilipino.

Sa pinakaunang probisyon ng Article XI, kung saan matatagpuan ang impeachment, ay nakasaad:

"Public office is a public trust. Public officers and employees must at all times be accountable to the people."

Sa Article I, Section 1 naman:

"Sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority emanates from them."

Ang kapangyarihan ng bawat opisyal ng gobyerno ay hinihiram lang po natin sa taumbayan. At ang kapangyarihang ito ay nakasalalay sa patuloy nilang pagtitiwala- at sa patuloy nating pagiging katiwa-tiwala.

Ang pagdinig ng mga akusasyon sa impeachment trial ay itinalaga ng Saligang Batas para sukatin kung karapat-dapat pa ring patuloy na ipagkatiwala sa mga pinakamataas na opisyal ng pamahalaan, ang lubos na kapangyarihang ini-atas ng taumbayan sa kanila.

Proteksyon ito laban sa pagbabaluktot ng batas, malubhang abuso, korapsyon, at pagtataksil sa interes ng publiko.

Ang pagtakas sa responsibilidad na ito ay insulto sa bawat Pilipino.

Thirdly, nothing in the Senate Rules of Procedure in Impeachment Trials provides basis for this inordinate delay.

Much has been said about attempts to follow proper procedure. But our own Senate Rules of Procedure on Impeachment Trials are bereft of any basis to justify the undeniable delay that has defined the Senate's proceedings thus far. Wala pong sinabi sa Rules on Impeachment na susundin ang legislative calendar, na bawal mag impeachment trial on legislative recess, o na pag trinansmit sa last day yung articles of impeachment, ay kailangang in limbo ito, nakabitin sa ere.

The inaction of our body on the Articles of Impeachment transmitted by the House of Representatives on February 5, 2025 is not because of anything definitive or inescapable written in the Rules. Hindi po tayo inipit ng Rules, hindi po natin pwede sabihin na wala tayong choice, that we were straitjacketed by what our rules on procedure provided. We had a choice every step of the way - and our choice has been to delay, to drag our feet, to hide behind what we say are legal ambiguities.

Tapos ngayon, if I might add, biglang bibilisan. An impeachment trial of all of three days. We've dragged our feet for several months, and then suddenly we tell the Filipino public that we are able to sift through the evidence and exact accountability from the second highest official in our land within a period of three days. What insanity is this?

Lastly, I wish to address the point made by the Senate President who stated that the Senate cannot be dictated upon, and that the Senate plenary is Supreme.

Respectfully- while the Senate is granted the power and duty to try and decide impeachment cases- its authority is not unbounded. If it acts in violation of the Constitution itself- it can and SHOULD be corrected.

Wala po sa Rules na ang pagsisimula ng paglilitis at pag-convene ng impeachment court ay kailangan pang pagbotohan at aprubahan ng mayorya. Anyone who objects to commencing the impeachment trial is objecting to the Constitution itself.

In the case of Francisco, Jr. v. House of Representatives (G.R. No. 160261, promulgated on November 10, 2003), the Supreme Court ruled:

"It is basic that all rules must not contravene the Constitution which is the fundamental law. If as alleged Congress had absolute rule making power, then it would by necessary implication have the power to alter or amend the meaning of the Constitution without need of referendum."

Wala pong kapangyarihan ang Senado na iwaksi ang malinaw na utos ng Saligang Batas.

Hinihimok ko po ang pinuno at mga kasamahan ko sa Senado- sundin po natin ang malinaw na mandato ng Saligang Batas. Galangin po natin ang taumbayang nagbigay ng tiwala sa atin. At simulan na po natin ang impeachment trial na ito.

Dapat ay madaliang dinggin ito, at ang paglilitis- sinsero at hindi minamadali.

Dakulang pasasalamat po.