Senators push back against Atty. Paolo Panelo over dropping of three impeachment charges

Several senators on Thursday pushed back against Vice President Sara Duterte’s spokesperson, Atty. Salvador Paolo Panelo Jr., who questioned the majority bloc’s silence over the prosecution’s decision to drop three of the four articles of impeachment against the Vice President.

Panelo criticized the senator-judges’ supposed “lack of outrage,” arguing that the withdrawal rendered days of prosecution presentations—and the resources spent on them—useless to the impeachment court’s final decision.

However, Senator Erwin Tulfo said there was no reason for senators to object to the prosecution’s move, emphasizing that no constitutional rules were broken.

“Bakit ka naman papalag, sir? May viniolate ba ‘yung prosecution sa Constitution? I don’t think so… Siguro papalag kami kung may violation. Wala namang violation,” Tulfo stressed.

(Why would we object, sir? Did the prosecution violate the Constitution? I don't think so... Maybe we would object if there were a violation, but there is none.)

While admitting he was surprised by the decision, Tulfo noted that dropping the three articles was simply a tactical move, adding that the defense team is free to employ its own strategy when presenting its case.

“Strategy ng prosecution ’yun, ’di ba? Gawa rin sila ng strategy when it’s their turn… Kaniya-kaniyang diskarte ’yon… Medyo nagulat din ako… Pero kung ’yun ang diskarte ng prosecution, then ano pa bang pipilitin ho natin? Kami ay mga senator-judges lang,” he added.

(That’s the prosecution’s strategy, right? The defense can also formulate their strategy when it’s their turn... To each their own approach... I was a bit surprised too... But if that’s their strategy, what else can we force? We are just senator-judges.)

Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian also defended the Senate's handling of the proceedings, maintaining that participating in the impeachment trial is an essential duty of public servants.

Gatchalian rejected Panelo’s claim that time spent hearing the withdrawn articles was wasted, stressing that the Senate was merely fulfilling its mandate to hold public officials accountable.

“Trabaho namin ito, eh. Ang trabaho namin is to make public servants accountable. So hindi naman sayang oras namin kung ginagawa namin ang trabaho,” Gatchalian told reporters.

(This is our job. Our job is to make public servants accountable. So our time isn't wasted if we are doing our work.)