“THERE is still another branch of the government that we can take this to,” said Vice Speaker Blas Jonathan Attao, referring to the judiciary.
He and other House leaders were asked in a press conference on Wednesday about the possibility of the Senate conducting an impeachment trial of Gov. Ralph DLG Torres even without a prosecutor from the House.
If that happens, Attao said, “there is obviously a next level we can go to —but we don’t want to get to that next level at this point. We want to make sure that we are given the opportunity [to prosecute the governor in the Senate].”
He said the House leadership is “trying to be as respectable as possible with the process and be cognizant of the fact that the Senate also voted on their own rules.”
He said the House leadership is asking the Senate for “some leeway so we can address the issue of the trial in a fair manner…. We don’t want to have the next group of legislators down the road [to] face this type of injustice…. We need to set a precedent that we are doing good for those coming after us.”
Citing the rules adopted by the Senate, Senate President Jude U. Hofschneider on Tuesday named Rep. Corina Magofna as the House prosecutor.
But Magofna said she is “unable to accept or decline notice to file an appearance in this matter.”
She told the Senate president that the House has formed a prosecutorial team with five members. “The Senate has no right to ignore our decision and proceed without us,” she added.
Hofschneider earlier said that the Senate would proceed with the impeachment trial of the governor with or without a House prosecutor.
For his part, Anthony H. Aguon, the governor’s lawyer in the impeachment proceedings in the Senate, has filed a motion to dismiss the articles of impeachment.
Aguon said the articles of impeachment are constitutionally defective as the House of Representatives acted in excess of its constitutional mandate.
Torres was impeached by the House of Representatives on Jan. 12, 2022 by a vote of 15 to 4 with 1 abstention, on allegations of felonies of theft, corruption and neglect of duty. He has denied the charges.
At least six of the nine senators must vote to convict in order to remove the governor from office.
Speaker Edmund S. Villagomez and Vice Speaker Blas Jonathan Attao review a document during House session earlier this week. Also in photo: House legal counsel Joseph L.G. Taijeron
