Prosecution spokesperson: PH risks constitutional crisis amid VP Sara impeachment delay

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Antonio Bucoy, who echoes other legal experts' opinion that the Senate's remanding of impeachment articles is unconstitutional, insists the move 'put up a major stumbling block to moving the trial forward'

MANILA, Philippines – Antonio Bucoy, the prosecution panel’s newly designated spokesperson for Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial, warned that the Philippines is nearing a constitutional crisis, amid supposed efforts to delay and dismiss the impeachment proceedings.

“We are heading towards that direction,” Bucoy said in a Rappler Talk interview with reporter Dwight de Leon on Thursday, June 19, when asked if the country is on the brink of a constitutional crisis.

“I hope everyone will exert their earnest and best efforts to avert this. We should forestall this. We should not allow this to happen. It is not healthy for our democracy. It is not healthy for our economy. It is not healthy for morality,” he added.

The Senate has drawn flak for returning the articles of impeachment to the House of Representatives on June 10, a day before the 19th Congress adjourned sine die, so the latter can address allegations that Duterte’s impeachment proceedings circumvented the Constitution.

Bucoy and other experts, however, have insisted that remanding the case has no constitutional and legal basis.

The move has stalled the proceedings, which experts also say run counter to the constitutional provision that states “trial by the Senate shall forthwith proceed” once the House has transmitted the impeachment articles.

“My feeling is that by remanding it without any legal basis, it put up a major stumbling block to moving the impeachment trial forward. So now we’re stuck. We’re caught in a bind. We’re left hanging. It’s just another factor that’s causing delays. Another setback. Another reason for things to drag on longer,” Bucoy said.

He noted that pre-trial proceedings and evidence marking could have already begun had the Senate not remanded the case.

Bucoy also criticized senators’ recent actions on the case, saying the current Senate brings shame to late statesmen Joker Arroyo, Jose Diokno, and Lorenzo Tañada.

“The time of Ka Pepe and Ka Joker was different…they inspired people to do what is right, to do what is good, to serve the country,” Bucoy said.

Free of charge

Bucoy said he accepted the spokesperson role for free, on the condition that they will trust him to “be circumspect, be direct, and not compromise the impeachment effort.”

“It’s a challenge for me because I care for this country,” Bucoy said in the Rappler Talk interview.

“I will try my best effort to give clarity to what’s going on. Expect me to continue my task of educating the public, explaining the process to the public. We are all engaged in this. The whole country is engaged in this or should be engaged,” he added.

Bucoy, a litigation lawyer, is the managing partner of Bucoy Poblador and Associates, described by the World Trademark Review as “home to a deep bench of diversely qualified IP (intellectual property) talent.”

In his youth, Bucoy was a member of the Movement of Attorneys for Brotherhood, Integrity and Nationalism (MABINI) and the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG). – Jayvee Mhar Viloria and Dwight de Leon/Rappler.com

Jayvee Mhar Viloria is a development communication student at the University of the Philippines Los Baños, and a reporter for Tanglaw, the student publication of UPLB College of Development Communication. He is currently a Rappler intern.