Sen. Erwin Tulfo on Thursday said they have yet to talk about the request for detained Sens. Rodante Marcoleta and Jinggoy Estrada to participate in Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial, but stressed that permission should be sought from the Sandiganbayan, which has custody over the two senators.
‘We will definitely discuss that. After all, they are still senators, right?’ Tulfo told reporters in an ambush interview when asked about the matter.
‘But the request should not be made to us. It should be made to the Sandiganbayan. If they are allowed, then why not?’ he added.
His statement came as Marcoleta on Tuesday urged fellow senators through a manifestation filed in the Senate to ‘find ways’ for him and another jailed colleague, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, to participate in Duterte’s impeachment trial.
Marcoleta and Estrada, who both belong to the minority bloc, are currently detained and separately facing nonbailable charges of plunder being heard at the Sandiganbayan.
Tulfo maintained that Marcoleta and Estrada remain senators while their cases are pending.
‘If the trial is still ongoing, then as they say, one is innocent until proven guilty,’ he said.
Tulfo, however, emphasized that he did not want to pre-empt whatever the Sandiganbayan will decide and said that it is ultimately up to the anti-graft court to decide whether the two senators may attend the impeachment proceedings.
Asked about the possibility of the Senate impeachment court being the one to request the two senator’s attendance to the trial, Tulfo said they will talk about it in caucus possibly by Wednesday next week.
Tulfo added that both the majority and the minority senators should have a consensus on the matter.
Previously, Estrada made a motion to be allowed to participate in the impeachment trial but the Sandiganbayan’s Fifth Division, which hears his plunder case, denied his request