NAAWAN, Misamis Oriental (MindaNews / 04 July) – As soon as the Articles of Impeachment have been forwarded to and accepted by the Senate, it is duty-bound to try the case of the impeached public official.
Can the Senate decline to try an impeachment case?
Senator Bato Dela Rosa tried it in moving for the dismissal of the impeachment case of Vice President Sara Duterte. In so doing, he was lawyering for the Vice President and received severe public censure for his ignorance of his role as a senator-judge.
The Senate is mandated to try an impeachment case to its completion; it can’t dismiss it. To dismiss a case is to renege on its Constitutional duty and responsibility. The Senate as a court evaluates the evidence, counter-evidence, and all other submissions and may declare innocence or culpability and accountability of the accused.
The Senate had assumed jurisdiction of Duterte’s impeachment case when it accepted from the House the Articles of Impeachment on February 5, 2025. The Senate already constituted itself as an Impeachment Court, with the members taking their oath as judges on June 10, 2025.
The Senate as an institution tries impeachment cases even if its membership changes because the senators may come and go. The impeachment case of Duterte can crossover from the 19th to 20th Congress, without the need to refile and it will be tried by a new set of senators.
The 20th Congress convenes on July 28, 2025. The convening of the 20th Congress followed the 2025 midterm elections, which replaced half of the Senate membership and the entire membership of the House of Representatives. The two legislative bodies will elect a new set of officers.
The Senate may have a new president who will preside over the Impeachment Court that will decide on the plight of Duterte who promised a bloodbath in her trial.
Duterte is set to face the Senate, most likely on July 30 this year. Her impeachment trial will happen during the 20th Congress, the Impeachment Court of which will be composed of the incumbent senators, joined by the 12 newly elected.
A two-thirds vote in the Senate is required to convict the Vice President, remove her from public office, and ban her from seeking any public post. This means she needs nine senators to vote for her acquittal to keep her in office.
Does she have the magic number to survive?
(MindaViews is the opinion section of MindaNews. William R. Adan, Ph.D., is retired professor and former chancellor of Mindanao State University at Naawan, Misamis Oriental.)