Philippine Vice-President Duterte questions impeachment trial under new Congress
MANILA – Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte has questioned whether her impeachment trial on charges that include a suspected plot to assassinate President Ferdinand Marcos Jr can go forward when a new set of lawmakers takes office in July.
Ms Duterte said in a video of a doorstep interview on June 3 that procedural issues may arise for her trial in the Senate due to the current body adjourning next week.
If the trial does go ahead in July, Ms Duterte would face public scrutiny over her actions related to the impeachment charges, although her allies' strong performance in a May midterm election has bolstered her chances of acquittal.
On June 4, Senator Ronald Dela Rosa, a Duterte ally, said he drafted a resolution to dismiss the impeachment against the vice president which he hopes to file in the coming days, according to an ABS-CBN News report.
Senate Majority Leader Francis Tolentino earlier this week also called for a dismissal, saying the current Congress can't pass on its business to the next one.
'If we cannot conclude the trial before June 30, we must recognise this impeachment case is functionally dismissed,' said Mr Tolentino, who lost a bid for reelection in May. Other lawmakers, including opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros, have said, however, the impeachment trial can carry over to the next Congress.
Mr Marcos' press officer Claire Castro said at a briefing on June 3 that the president will not meddle with the impeachment process.
Ms Duterte was impeached by the House of Representatives in February on seven charges that include graft, sedition and 'plotting to murder or assassinate the incumbent president, the first lady, and speaker of the House of Representatives,' according to the official complaint. Ms Duterte has denied the accusations.
Mr Marcos and Ms Duterte ran on a successful presidential ticket in 2022, before falling out over several policy differences including a proposal to change the constitution that Ms Duterte's camp saw as a ploy to keep Mr Marcos in office beyond his single, six-year term.
Relations reached a nadir this year after Mr Marcos allowed the arrest of her father, ex-President Rodrigo Duterte, who awaits trial at the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity during his deadly drug war. Ms Sara Duterte made her comments from the Netherlands, where she went to visit her father. BLOOMBERG
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