‘Escudero 11’ Aims to Kill?

By Herbert Vego

THE word is out that Senate President Chiz Escudero and 10 other senators have hatched a plan to abort the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte on technical grounds – a move seen as his way to keep the Senate presidency.

It is public knowledge that a newly-elected senator, former Senate President Tito Sotto, is interested in regaining the post.

Does it follow that Sotto, an obvious friend of Inday Sara, would back out if the impeachment derails?

This is allegedly why Chiz had postponed anew the reading of the House of Representatives’[ Articles of Impeachment against Duterte from June 2 to June 11 on the alibi to prioritize the passage of pending bills before the 19th Congress adjourns sine die on June 13.

That “reading” would have kicked off the convening of the Senate into an impeachment court.

It could have been done on February 5 when the House of Representatives sent the Articles to the Senate, but Escudero refused to receive it and announced its postponement on June 2 or four months later.

To quote Sen. Riza Hontiveros, “Any further delays in commencing the trial against Vice President Duterte would violate the Constitution, which clearly states that the Senate ‘shall forthwith proceed’ with an impeachment trial.”

So far, the incumbent senators who are rumored to block the impeachment trial are Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, Bong Go, Francis Tolentino, Sherwin Gatchalian, JV Ejercito, Cynthia Villar, Mark Villar, Joel Villanueva, Jinggoy Estrada and Robin Padilla.

Since it would take 16 or two-thirds of the 24 senators to convict the House-impeached vice-president, they have more than enough number to acquit her; all that she needs is 9.

However, hasn’t she expressed “welcome” to the trial so she could refute the charges raised against her? To sum up, they include betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the constitution, graft and corruption, threat to kill President Marcos and other high crimes.

But why are they so worried when they think her acquittal is imminent?

It’s because while impeachment is a numbers game, it is also judicial.  The House and private prosecutors will mince no words in exposing politically explosive issues that would trigger public wrath against her and thus destroy her chances of winning the presidency in 2028!

The only way to prevent such an “explosion” is for the trial never to take place through technicalities. There’s the question of the legality of the trial passing from the “graduating” senators to the incumbent and incoming ones.

Naku Chiz ha, your slip is showing.

-oOo-

KUDOS TO PRIMELECTRIC 

IN two previous columns, I cited the losses of several electric cooperatives – including the Central Negros Cooperatives (Ceneco) in Bacolod City – as a strong ground for their privatization.

Ceneco has been saved by its joint venture agreement with Primelectric, a holdings company owned by billionaire Enrique Razon, to which MORE Electric and Power Corp. (MORE Power) of Iloilo City also belongs.  Ceneco is now known as Negros Electric and Power Corp. (NEPC)

NEPC, MORE Power and Bohol Light of Tagbilaran City count on Roel Z. Castro as their president and chief executive officer.

In his recent news report here in the Daily Guardian, Rjay Zuriaga Castor stressed that MORE Power today enjoys the reputation of billing the lowest residential rate of ₱11.13 per kilowatt-hour in Panay and Guimaras.

Negros Power’s rate stands at ₱11.69/kWh:

The Iloilo-1 Electric Coop (Ileco 1) charges ₱12.53/kWh

Castro attributes Primelectric’s competitiveness to long-term power supply agreements with power generators and participation in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM).

Generation charges make up 60% to 65% of a typical household’s electric bill, pushing utilities to secure competitively priced power supply.

No wonder, to quote my good friend Alena Flores of the Manila Standard, “Private electric distribution utilities led by businessman Enrique Razon, Jr. continue to offer the most competitive electricity rates in the Visayas region.”