Seeking TRO vs impeachment is lawyer Torreon’s ‘house specialty’ – Ortega

MANILA, Philippines — If lawyer Israelito Torreon owns a restaurant, filing petitions seeking a temporary restraining order (TRO) against Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial is the “specialty of the house,” House Deputy Speaker Paolo Ortega V said on Tuesday. In a press briefing on the sidelines of the impeachment trial at the Senate, Ortega and other lawmakers commented on Torreon’s decision to ask the Supreme Court (SC) for a TRO to stop the proceedings on grounds that Senator-judge Francis Escudero should not be the presiding officer. According to Ortega, filing TROs seems to be the “bread and butter” of Torreon’s group. “That’s their bread and butter – to file TROs. So I think it already their specialty of the house,” Ortega said. “So, of course, no one is stopping them from doing these things. But they seem to be able to do these things even with their eyes closed, because that is their expertise,” he explained. “And it is only right to file if they want some issues answered. But I believe it was resolved already on the first day of the trial,” he said. Prosecution spokesperson and Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong echoed Ortega’s sentiments, saying that everyone is free to file petitions if they believe there is something wrong with the proceedings. However, Adiong thinks that deciding who should preside over the impeachment trial is an internal matter that the Senate must decide on its own. “Anyone is free to question things, and bring these before the Supreme Court. But in my opinion, this is a matter internal to the rules of the Senate, the impeachment trial is an internal matter or an exclusive power given to the Senate,” he remarked. “So it also follows logically that the members, the senators who sit as judges, they will also decide who will be their presiding officer,” he added. Adiong also countered arguments raised by some sectors — including Senator-judge Alan Peter Cayetano — that while the 1987 Constitution is silent on who can preside over impeachment proceedings, except when presidents are being tried, the constitutional framers have preferred that a Senate president lead the way. The current Senate president is Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, but on Monday, Escudero was elected as presiding officer for Duterte’s impeachment. According to Adiong, the constitutional framers may have thought that Senate presidents should preside over impeachment trials, but the only guide should be the provisions mentioned in the Constitution. “I think they are drawing their arguments from a discussion whether the transcript of the Constitution framers would still matter,” he noted. “We’ve heard a lot of legal opinions, but these transcripts during the 1986 Constitutional Convention, they may have influence, but they’re not really controlling,” he further remarked. “What’s important is what (was) ratified by the people, and what the people ratified are the specific provisions spelled out under the Constitution,” he added. Aside from Ortega and Adiong, public prosecutor and Bicol Saro party-list Rep. Terry Ridon also urged Torreon and other lawyers who filed the the 16-page Very Urgent Manifestation with Motion to show mercy on trees cut down just to produce papers for their petitions. Ridon said the group is merely wasting paper, as the battleground is no longer the SC, but the Senate Impeachment Court. According to Torreon and the other lawyers who filed the petition, the amendment made to the Rules of Procedure on Impeachment Trials — that the presiding officer can be elected — cannot be enforced. They believe the June 3 session’s legality is still being challenged as there were supposedly only 12 members present for a quorum. Gatchalian has maintained that the proceedings are legitimate because only 22 senators were within the reach of the Senate during that time, as Senator Ronald dela Rosa evaded public eye while Senator Jinggoy Estrada was detained over plunder charges. According to the petition, only the Senate president can preside over impeachment trials, with the exception of when the president is on trial, which shall be presided over by the chief justice. READ: Group asks SC to void Escudero’s authority to preside over trial This is not the first time that Torreon and other lawyers went to SC in a bid to stop the impeachment. After Duterte was first impeached last last February 5, 2025, the Articles of Impeachment were immediately transmitted to the Senate. This was in accordance with constitutional provisions mandating that a trial must begin promptly if at least one-third of all House members endorse the complaint. READ: House impeaches Sara Duterte, fast-tracking transmittal to Senate The Senate — then under Escudero — remanded the Articles of Impeachment due to constitutional infirmities, noting that there were petitions pending before the SC. One of the petitions came from a group of Mindanao-based lawyers, including Torreon, who argued that the House failed to observe constitutional rules requiring it to act on filed impeachment complaints within 10 session days. READ: Petition to stop impeachment trial vs VP Duterte filed at Supreme Court Then, in March 2026, while the House committee on justice tackled the second set of impeachment complaints, Torreon and other lawyers backing the vice president filed a petition before SC questioning the alleged unconstitutional acts done by the panel. /apl