HOUSE trial spokesperson Zia Alonto Adiong of Lanao del Sur on Saturday said any leadership change in the Senate — including reported efforts to install Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian as Senate President — would not affect the strength of the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Z. Duterte.
Alonto Adiong, a House Assistant Majority Leader, made the statement amid renewed speculation over possible leadership realignments inside the Senate as the chamber prepares to move deeper into impeachment proceedings after formally convening as an impeachment court and issuing writs of summons to both the prosecution and defense panels.
The Senate is expected to receive the formal response of Duterte’s camp by June 1, after which the House prosecution team will file its reply before pre-trial proceedings begin.
Despite the political noise surrounding the Senate leadership issue, Alonto Adiong said the House prosecution panel would avoid commenting on internal Senate matters out of institutional respect for a co-equal branch of government.
“As far as we maintain institutional respect to our co-equal branch, that is an internal dynamic within the Senate,” Alonto Adiong said during the Saturday News Forum at Dapo Restaurant in Quezon City.
“And I think in terms of the decision, the collective decision, whether the senators will be changing the leadership is entirely up to the decision of the individual senators,” he added.
The House spokesperson stressed that regardless of who eventually leads the Senate or occupies key positions in the chamber, the evidence gathered by prosecutors and the merits of the impeachment case would remain unchanged.
“So ang pinanindigan namin, whoever becomes the Senate President or whatever is the composition of the Senate in terms of key positions in the Senate, will not affect the soundness and the volume of evidence that the House prosecution team will be presenting to the impeachment court,” Alonto Adiong said.
He added that the prosecution panel’s presentation would continue to rely on documentary evidence, testimonies and records already gathered during House proceedings.
“It would still be consistent with the testimonies and the documents that we have gathered,” he said.
Alonto Adiong also noted that the upcoming pre-trial proceedings would provide a clearer picture of how both camps intend to present their evidence and witnesses before the Senate impeachment court.
“In the pre-trial, I believe, the pre-trial sets down the ground rules for the impeachment court to proceed,” he said.
“Part of that is actually identification of the potential witnesses and markings of evidence,” Alonto Adiong added.
