LENGTHY manifestations on the sixth day of Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial on Wednesday have raised concern over undue delays in the proceedings and are testing the patience of trial observers, Sen. Panfilo Lacson said.
Some manifestations that are ‘obviously irrelevant’ are beginning to irritate people, Lacson said Thursday. He made the observation after sharing a lighthearted exchange with a fellow senator-judge, saying even those in the gallery would likely welcome a motion to adjourn the trial whenever such manifestations drag on.
‘DAY 6: A fellow senator-judge has jokingly asked me if he can move for the division of the house every time he feels annoyed by manifestations obviously irrelevant to the impeachment trial. I told him, a motion to adjourn will elicit more applause from the equally annoyed gallery,’ he said in a post on X.
The sixth day of the impeachment trial last Wednesday featured no witness testimonies but had some lengthy manifestations, some of which centered on the timing of a National Bureau of Investigation probe into the construction of the multibillion-peso sports complex in Tarlac for the 2019 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.
Since the events in question happened seven years ago, questions were raised whether there was indeed a campaign to reduce the ranks of senator-judges perceived sympathetic to Duterte, since the SEA Games inquiry would target Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, minority leader. He was then the top official involved in the SEA Games preparations, and drew flak for the P58-million ‘kaldero’ controversy-a reference to the light tower he approved to be constructed for the Games, which ended with host Philippines topping the medal tally.
Last weekend, Lacson proposed measures to minimize delays in the impeachment trial, including having witnesses expected to testify during the week remain readily available within the Senate premises.
He stressed that speeding up the trial does not mean compromising the presentation of evidence, but maximizing the limited time available to the Impeachment Court.
Besides, Lacson said, the Vice President is entitled to a speedy trial just like any respondent in an ordinary court proceeding.