Sen. Raffy Tulfo on Wednesday questioned the enforcement of speaking time limits during Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial, saying some senator-judges appeared to be given more time than others to manifest or ask questions.
During the ninth day of the trial, Tulfo expressed frustration over what he described as inconsistent implementation of the two-minute rule.
“Bakit kapag sa kabila, pinapayagan sila, five to 10 minutes? Bakit sa amin… nire-remind pagdating ng two minutes?” Tulfo said.
He claimed senators whom he identified as belonging to the majority were immediately reminded when their allotted time expired, while others were allowed to continue speaking for several more minutes.
“I have records. Why?” he said.
Presiding Officer Francis Escudero rejected the characterization, saying there is no majority or minority bloc in the impeachment court because all members serve as senator-judges.
“The chair would like to point out that in the impeachment court there is no majority nor minority. We are all senator-judges,” Escudero said.
Escudero added that he had also granted Sen. Panfilo Lacson additional time earlier to complete his point, which prompted him to remind Sen. Robin Padilla to wrap up because his allotted time had already lapsed.
Tulfo maintained that the time limits should be applied uniformly, saying he had been interrupted by the warning bell several times while others were allowed to continue speaking.
“I do have a lot of respect for you… Dapat maging fair tayo,” Tulfo told Escudero.
