Akbayan Representative Perci Cendaña today called out Senate President Chiz Escudero for the continued delay in convening the Senate as an impeachment court, raising a pointed question: “Natatakot ba siya kay Sara Duterte?” The lawmaker warned that the Senate’s inaction risks being seen as a betrayal of its constitutional mandate and a deliberate attempt to shield the Vice President from accountability.
Cendaña, endorser of the first impeachment complaint filed before the House of Representatives, took issue with what he described as Escudero’s dismissive attitude, likening it to treating the impeachment process as “a passing fashion trend.”
“Hindi po ito Paris fashion week. Convening the Senate as an impeachment court is a solemn constitutional duty, not a seasonal accessory you put on or discard depending on the political weather, or one’s personal agenda,” Cendaña said. “It is a uniform of duty worn whenever the Constitution demands it,” Cendaña said.
According to a recent Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey, nearly nine in ten Filipinos want Vice President Sara Duterte to respond directly to the impeachment charges and clear her name of corruption allegations. The poll shows that 68% of respondents believe Duterte should definitely face the charges, with another 20% saying she probably should. In contrast, only 7% believe she should avoid the issue altogether.
“The public wants a trial. Even the impeached Vice President herself has signaled a willingness to face one. What’s stopping the Senate? Natatakot ba ang liderato kay Sara?” Cendaña said. “The people demand transparency. Tama na po ang pateka-teka. Panahon na para magtrabaho.”
Akbayan also dismissed Escudero’s claim that the impeachment complaint from the 19th Congress cannot be carried over to the 20th as pure “legal fiction,” asserting that his argument has no basis in the Constitution, jurisprudence, or even the Senate’s own rules. “The impeachment process is a constitutional mandate, not a legislative bill that expires at the stroke of midnight. Once the House transmitted the Articles of Impeachment, the Senate is constitutionally bound to convene as an impeachment court—no ifs, no buts. The delay, and now the flimsy excuses, only add insult to institutional injury,” said Cendaña.
Akbayan challenged Escudero to act with resolve: convene the Senate as an impeachment court, swear in the senators as judges, and allow the prosecution to read the charges. “Every day of delay sends the message that the Senate leadership is either afraid of Vice President Duterte, or worse, actively protecting her,” Cendaña concluded.