By Benjamin Cuaresma
MANILA — Senator-judge Alan Peter Cayetano on Monday defended colleague Robinhood Padilla during the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, saying legal issues involving the integrity of the impeachment court should not be dismissed as irrelevant simply because they do not directly concern the charges against the Vice President.
Cayetano made the remarks after Senator-judge Erwin Tulfo urged fellow senator-judges to stop raising personal matters during the proceedings and instead focus solely on the impeachment case.
Responding to Tulfo’s comments, Cayetano said discussions involving the credibility and integrity of members of the impeachment court are legitimate legal concerns that deserve attention.
“I am glad Senator Erwin Tulfo expressed concern for justice for the Vice President. But as the late Senator Joker Arroyo once said, ‘It is useless to argue a legal point with a non-lawyer,’” Cayetano remarked.
Although acknowledging that the Senate impeachment court is composed of both lawyers and non-lawyers, Cayetano stressed that legal principles require careful analysis and cannot simply be resolved through common sense alone.
“If an engineer or a doctor explains technical matters, I cannot simply rely on my own opinion. I have to understand the principles involved. The same is true with legal issues,” he said.
According to Cayetano, the integrity of the impeachment court and its members remains a fundamental issue because public confidence in the tribunal is essential to the credibility of its rulings.
“The integrity of the court and its judges will always be relevant. That is why Senator Padilla’s manifestation deserved to be heard,” he said.
Cayetano argued that allegations questioning the conduct or credibility of senator-judges cannot simply be ignored, noting that courts routinely address issues affecting the impartiality or integrity of magistrates.
“If members of the Supreme Court, the Commission on Elections, the Sandiganbayan or any other court are being questioned or threatened, those matters are taken seriously because they affect the integrity of the institution,” he said.
The senator clarified that he had no intention of discussing his own political disputes but believed Padilla was justified in responding to reports claiming he ignored a summons from the Office of the Ombudsman in connection with the investigation into Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa’s departure from Senate custody.
“It was widely reported that Senator Padilla ignored the Ombudsman. He merely stood up to say he complied with the law,” Cayetano said.
Earlier in the proceedings, Tulfo appealed to his colleagues to refrain from using impeachment trial time to address personal controversies, emphasizing that the Senate was convened as an impeachment court exclusively to hear the case against Duterte.
“This court was created for the Vice President and the Vice President alone. Personal grievances should be addressed elsewhere, not during these proceedings,” Tulfo said.
The exchange underscored growing differences among senator-judges over courtroom decorum and the scope of issues that may be raised during the impeachment trial, even as the proceedings continue to tackle the substantive allegations against Vice President Duterte.
ia/xf
