“ARE you seeking justice or war?” Republican Sen. Francisco Q. Cruz of Tinian asked his Rota colleague, Paul A. Manglona, during Thursday’s Senate session, referring to the Senate impeachment rules.
Cruz chairs the Senate Committee on Executive Appointments and Government Investigations, one of the two committees that were tasked with drafting the rules for the Senate trial of Republican Gov. Ralph DLG Torres who was impeached by the Democrat-Independent-led House of Representatives for commission of felonies, corruption, and neglect of duty.
Torres, who has denied the allegations, will be removed from office if six members of the nine-seat Senate vote for his conviction.
“Now that we’re moving forward, you’re interfering,” Cruz told Manglona, one of the Senate’s two minority bloc members. “If [the House] is not confident in their case, that’s why we are moving forward, so that we can entertain the resolution. Every time you come in here, we’re very patient enough to continue to accept you, while you continue to create problems.”
Cruz added, “Stop with the insulting accusations. Since when does the governor — we’re not representing the governor here; we’re representing the public. We’re trying our very best. Don’t say that the governor altered this impeachment resolution of the Senate. We worked so hard for this, so don’t accuse us.” You think we’re bad? Let’s move forward with [these proceedings] if [the House] is confident in their case.”
He noted that when the House conducted its investigation into the governor’s expenditures, the Senate did not interfere — a stark contrast to the House’s reaction to the impeachment process in the Senate.
“When the House conducted their investigation, although we could see some unfair [decisions], we never interfered because the Constitution gave them that mandate. Stop interfering with our process so that we can move forward with this resolution that’s been presented to the Senate,” Cruz said.
Referring to the House, the lawmaker said, “Are you guys not confident with your case? Give us the opportunity to do what the Constitution has mandated us to do. There is more than one house [of the Legislature]. Why are you coming in to be part of the impeachment rules for the Senate? If you’re confident in your case, then wait for your time to be called to the hearing or trial, and present it. But stop accusing all of us. Since the day I came into the Senate, I have represented the people of the Commonwealth. I don’t represent one person, so stop accusing us, and [allow us] do our jobs.”
During the session, and prior to the adoption of the Senate impeachment, Manglona said the joint Senate committee should go back to the drawing board and take no more than one week to address “valid questions” raised by other lawmakers.
He noted that Senate impeachment rules would allow the joint committee, composed of five of the nine senators, to decide whether or not to throw out the articles of impeachment — an act that is constitutionally mandated to be the role of the full Senate body, Manglona added.
“I’m not after anything,” he said. “I don’t have any hidden agenda. I just want to get past this impeachment. Let’s finish and move on. Our people out there are suffering. They want to know about their bonus, about these gas prices, about the economy, about tourism, [and] about getting back their small businesses…. We should have a fair trial…. Nobody is pressuring anybody here. We are elected to promote, to protect the interests of our people,” said Manglona.
He added, “But we cannot put a handcuff on the House of Representatives. We cannot tie their hands and put a blindfold [on them], or put one hand behind [their back]. We have to allow them to do the best they can… because this is not just about today; this is about the coming years. In the future, [the future Legislature is going to] look back at our journals and they’re going to see how we handled the impeachment process here in the Legislature.”
Francisco Q. Cruz
