Photo Release

Claiming impeach complaint infirm premature: Senator-judge Win Gatchalian, during debates on the proposal to dismiss impeachment complaint during the Senate session constituted as an impeachment trial Tuesday, June 10, 2025, declares that it is premature to judge the impeachment complaint filed by the House of Representatives against Vice President Sara Z. Duterte. Gatchalian said the prosecution panel has yet to formally read the seven Articles of Impeachment before the newly-constituted impeachment court, thus could not be declared as infirm as of yet. “We have not yet started the trial proper. And we have not yet heard the arguments of the prosecutor or the defense. This is an allegation that, personally, I have not yet seen the document. I have not yet seen the documents to determine if they are truly constitutionally infirm or not constitutionally infirm,” Gatchalian said in Filipino. The senator also expressed belief that the impeachment complaint can cross-over to the 20th Congress. “If the Senate were to terminate at the end of every Congress, then the elections would be 24-24. 24 senators would finish their term and 24 senators would be elected by the people. But that is not how the Senate is designed... The design is 12-12 for situations like this so that the impeachment proceedings can be carried over to the next Congress,” he added. (Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau)