00:00And because of the questions on the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte,
00:05blessing in disguise by Senate President Cheese Escudero,
00:09they did not immediately stop the litigation.
00:12Even when giving a copy of the articles of impeachment to the vice president,
00:16they did not immediately stop it so that they will not be technical.
00:20Mav Gonzalez was on the spot.
00:23In the middle of a different petition in the Supreme Court
00:28to urge the Senate to immediately start or stop the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte,
00:34Senate President Cheese Escudero said,
00:37It is providential that we did not proceed with the trial because we recessed
00:41so that all of these things will be submitted to the Supreme Court
00:45so that there will be no delay or delay in the trial of the Senate
00:49of this kind of technicality.
00:52The Senate responded to the request of the Vice President to stop the impeachment trial.
00:56But the Solicitor General will answer, according to the leader of the Senate.
01:00We referred that thing to the Solicitor General's office.
01:04As a lawyer standing in the government,
01:07the Senate itself has no answer or preparation to answer that.
01:13The articles to him to start the impeachment trial,
01:17he will refer to the Senate Committee on Rules and Legal Team for study.
01:21If he will ask, according to Escudero,
01:24according to the opinion of some lawyers,
01:26the Vice President was given a copy of the Articles of Impeachment.
01:29But he fears that they might be technical,
01:32so he will first arrange the rules for this.
01:35There is a provision in our rules that the Senate President
01:38shall take proper order of the subject of impeachment.
01:42It's not just a matter of what kind of power this is.
01:45I don't want to give a reason to VP Sara
01:50to go to the Supreme Court again
01:53and to have a chance to know or be informed by the Supreme Court
01:58in what for me is a clear political process.
02:01For now, only the Supreme Court can compel the Senate to start the impeachment trial.
02:06Escudero explained that at least 40 days is needed
02:10for the other parties to submit their pleadings
02:13before the pre-trial starts.
02:15And it won't be until June 30 when the 19th Congress will be over.
02:20How will they deal with this?
02:22And moreover, how will they deal with this if the Senators are not enough?
02:25How can we have a trial of 12 Senators?
02:28And surely, the winner will be decided because there are no two-thirds.
02:32So the soonest time we can convene the impeachment court for trial purposes
02:36would be once the Senate is complete with 24 members.
02:40That will happen after June 30 and once the new Senate has entered into its function.
02:47Even though the impeachment trial of Vice is scheduled to start in July,
02:51the legal team is already forming and preparing a robe for the Senator Judges.
02:55A set-up has also been laid for the impeachment
02:58and the witness stand and table of the lawyers of the various fields are ready.
03:02It was also used in the impeachment of former Chief Justice Renato Corona.
03:07According to the Senate, not even a million pesos will be spent on the impeachment trial.
03:12Aside from this, the Senate will get private lawyers to help with the process.
03:18For GMA Integrated News, I'm Maev Gonzales for 24 Hours.
03:32For GMA Integrated News, I'm Maev Gonzales for 24 Hours.
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