Ex-PCGG lawyer wants SC ruling to nudge Senate on VP’s impeachment

Catalino Generillo, former counsel of the Presidential Commission on Good Government, asks the Supreme Court to issue a court order telling the Senate to proceed with the trial

MANILA, Philippines – A former special counsel for the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) is asking the Supreme Court to act on his petition compelling the Senate to start Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial.

Lawyer Catalino Generillo filed the mandamus petition on February 13, 2025, with the Senate as a respondent. Senators failed to convene the impeachment court and set a timeline for the proceedings, which has since led to questions on whether the impeachment trial would push through.

He has asked the SC to issue a court order telling the Senate to proceed with the trial.

“The Constitutional duty of the Senate to constitute itself into an impeachment court and proceed with the trial of Vice President Sara Duterte immediately is unavoidable and inescapable, and the Senate should comply therewith without further delay,” Generillo said.

The upper chamber received the Articles of Impeachment from House Secretary General Reginald Velasco on February 5, the day congressmen voted to impeach the vice president. Senate President Chiz Escudero postponed reading the articles — the first step of the proceedings — from June 2 to June 11, the last session day of the 19th Congress. (READ: Senate moves impeachment trial timeline to focus on ‘priority measures’)

But on June 4, Senators said there already was a draft resolution seeking to drop the trial against Sara Duterte.

However, even Generillo’s mandamus petition faced delays.

Days after Generillo filed, the High Court on February 18 sought comments from the Senate and its counsel, the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG).

Both the Senate and the OSG said they only received a copy of the resolution on April 29 — 70 days after the order to comment was issued. The OSG also asked for a 15-day extension, citing heavy workload.

Generillo was against the extension, noting that it was not allowed under Section 12 of the 2019 Amendments to the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure. The OSG mailed its comment on May 24 and was received by the former PCGG counsel on May 29.

“As of May 19… the date of the Comment, it appears that the Honorable Supreme Court has not resolved OSG’s Motion for Extension of Time to File Comment,” said Generillo, adding that what the OSG did was “not authorized by the Supreme Court.”

Generillo also countered the OSG’s position that his petition to compel the Senate to act on the impeachment proceedings as the situation still had “exceptional character.”

Citing the Supreme Court’s ruling in the case of Romulo Macalintal vs the Commission on Elections, the courts may still decide on cases where there is a “grave violation of the Constitution; the exceptional character of the situation and the paramount public interest is involved; when the constitutional issue raised requires formulation of controlling principles to guide the bench, the bar, and the public; and the case is capable of repetition yet evading review.”

The Senate has been criticized for delaying the impeachment trial. It has also resulted in a word war between the two chambers of Congress as House lawmakers called out their counterparts. – Rappler.com