Press officer Claire Castro. - Photo: Presidential Communications Office
MANILA: The Senate majority — not just the Senate president — may proceed with sending a letter requesting President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to order convening a special session for Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial.
Press officer Claire Castro made the pronouncement amid a deadlock between Marcos and Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero, who both insist that the directive to conduct a special session should come from the other.
"Maybe if the majority wants the impeachment trial to begin, it will be better for them to contact the president. They can write. They can make a request even if the Senate president will not act," suggested Castro.
She made the statement in a Radyo 630 interview when asked about the same recommendation made by Manila Third District Rep. Joel Chua.
"Because if the majority wants to continue this, it shouldn’t be just one person who decides this—the Senate president," she noted.
"They can ask and request the president for a special session if they have the majority calling for it," she suggested.
Asked who could initiate the letter to Marcos, Castro—who at this point separated herself as a lawyer from her government post—suggested that Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel can do so.
This is because it was also Pimentel who wrote a letter to Escudero to immediately act on the impeachment complaint filed against Duterte.
Castro then said that Marcos may accept the letter, as it still conforms to his previous statement that he would wait for a letter of request from the Senate to conduct a special session before calling one himself.
"We will ask because he said that if the Senate requests to call a special session, he will respond to that. So let’s see. It is possible because that is what the president said," she said.
Duterte was impeached at the House of Representatives level on Feb 5.
A petition blocking the impeachment move was submitted by the vice president before the Supreme Court on Feb 18. - Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN
