Minority Senators Say No Need to Recuse in Duterte Impeachment

By Joseph Bernard A. Marzan

The spokesperson of the House prosecution panel and senators from the minority in the Senate said Tuesday, June 17, that allies of Vice President Sara Duterte need not inhibit themselves from the impeachment trial at the Senate.

Duterte commented Monday, June 16, that senator‑judges should not recuse themselves amid calls for Senators Bato dela Rosa, Imee Marcos, and Robinhood Padilla to inhibit themselves.

Dela Rosa, Marcos, and Padilla supported dismissing the impeachment case, which was returned to the House of Representatives on June 10.

Duterte added that if allied senators had to recuse, minority Sen. Risa Hontiveros should also step aside.

Lawyer Antonio Bucoy, introduced Tuesday as the impeachment spokesperson, said allied senators deserve “the benefit of the doubt.”

“They know the law. They know what they are doing. They swore [an oath] that they would administer impartial justice. Now, let’s see if they will adhere to what they swore—to deliver impartial justice, the cold neutrality of an impartial judge,” Bucoy said during a press conference.

Bucoy explained that unlike in the judiciary, where there are grounds for a judge to inhibit from proceedings, this would be a personal matter for senator-judges.

“In regular courts, there are specific grounds for recusal. If it is not covered by specific grounds for recusal, as in relationship, filial ties, familial ties, that is mandatory. But other than those, the ground is perceived bias—that is a personal decision by a judge. In impeachment, that is the running order. That is personal to the judge concerned,” he said.

He stated that there are discussions within the prosecution team about seeking some senator-judges’ recusal but said that this may be scrapped if it would mean the trial would be delayed.

“Are we going to seek recusal for the perceived biases of the [senator-]judges? We are talking about that. But if this would be a reason [for impeachment proceedings] to be delayed, it may be set aside,” the lawyer said.

“Anyway, evidence will be revealed; it will be shown to judges, [and] the public will see it. It is up to them [senator-judges]. If the evidence is strong and they still [vote to] acquit, who will be the judge? It will be the people,” he added.

The lawyer also said they would not need to request that Duterte-allied senator-judges refrain from giving statements, citing the Senate’s rules on impeachment.

Rule XVIII of the Resolution Adopting the Rules of Procedure on Impeachment Trials bars senators and prosecutors from giving statements or opinions on the merits of the impeachment case.

Outgoing Senate Minority Leader Koko Pimentel also rejected calls for recusal, saying the public will also judge the decisions made by individual senators.

“No need to inhibit. […] Let it be. Senators who will be judges should make their decision at the end [of the trial], so that they will now state the decision—guilty or not guilty—then it will be the people who will judge the decision of every senator,” Pimentel said.

Pimentel also theorized that an inhibition may even benefit Duterte, as the number of senators required to convict or acquit (two-thirds or 16) may be lowered.

“As I’ve read in the Constitution, two-thirds of all the members of the Senate, and this refers to those who are physically [present]. We are only 23 now—you have to compute the two-thirds—but it also goes back to 16 since there are no fractions of a person. There needs to be [16] saying guilty,” he explained.

While Hontiveros did not directly state her opinion against inhibition, she expressed her hopes that other senators would fairly weigh the evidence for and against Duterte.

“As a senator-judge, we will carefully look at all the evidence to be presented at [Duterte’s] impeachment trial. When we took an oath as senator-judges, it became our duty in the Senate to review and vote according to the weight of the evidence to be presented by both sides in the impeachment trial—may it be a critic or ally of the Vice President,” Hontiveros said in a recorded statement.

“I am following that duty, and I am hoping for this as well from other senators. One good way for the Vice President to start presenting her arguments is by filing an answer to the summons issued by the Senate impeachment court last week. We are awaiting her response to this and the other processes regarding the impeachment trial,” she added.