Impeachment court spokesman says SC ruling put 'firewall' on tribunal's independence

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The Supreme Court ruling that dismissed the petitions against the Senate impeachment court's ruling on the threshold number of votes needed to convict Vice President Sara Duterte placed a "firewall" around its independence, impeachment tribunal spokesman Atty. Regie Tongol said.

Tongol issued the statement after the SC on Wednesday dismissed separate petitions challenging the Senate impeachment court’s ruling to base the voting threshold for Vice President Sara Duterte’s conviction on the number of senators who are participating in the proceedings.

According to the court, the SC En Banc dismissed the petitions filed by former Executive Secretary Vic Rodriguez, Berteni Causing, and lawyer Ernesto Francisco Jr. on procedural grounds, including lack of standing and prematurity.

Last week, the impeachment court voted to base the two-thirds of votes required for conviction on the number of senators who are capable of "legally and factually participating in the impeachment proceedings."

"The Supreme Court's prompt dismissal of these cases on procedural grounds, specifically lack of standing and prematurity, effectively confirms the interpretations and proceedings of the Senate Impeachment Court are constitutionally bulletproof," Tongol said.

"By junking these challenges, the Highest Court has drawn a definitive firewall around the independence of the Senate as an Impeachment Court, confirming that its proceedings cannot be held hostage by premature judicial meddling or collateral litigation," he added.

"The Impeachment Court's September 23 ruling stands undisturbed and shall continue to perform its constitutional mandate to solely try and decide the impeachment case before it without unnecessary stalling or external distractions," Tongol said.

The three petitioners sought the issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO) or status quo ante order (SQAO) against the ruling’s implementation.

Rodriguez also asked the SC to nullify the ruling, arguing that the impeachment court effectively amended the Constitution by adding a qualification not found in its text.

For their part, Causing and Francisco argued that senators who remain in office should be counted even if they are in hiding, detained, or medically unable to attend.

Causing asked the SC to compel Senators Jinggoy Estrada, Rodante Marcoleta, and Ronald “Bato” Dela ROsa to participate in the trial and for the Senate to take the necessary steps to ensure their attendance.

Presiding Officer Francis “Chiz” Escudero has explained that the senator-judges who are detained or suspended, who are sought by authorities whose whereabouts are unknown, who are suffering from a physical or medical incapacity, and who are beyond the coercive processes of the Senate will be excluded from the senator-judges who are qualified to vote.

Marcoleta is detained over a P75-million plunder case while Estrada is detained over a P573-million plunder charge, which is a non-bailable offense.

Dela Rosa, meanwhile, has not appeared in public since his departure from the Senate premises on May 14, after authorities attempted to serve an International Criminal Court warrant against him.

Senator Loren Legarda is on an extended medical leave abroad due to a lung ailment. —NB, GMA News