SENATE President Juan Ponce Enrile still “has energy” to preside over another impeachment trial, that of Justice Mariano del Castillo, if ever the House of Representatives elevates the articles of impeachment against the magistrate to the Upper Chamber.

Enrile, presiding officer of the ongoing impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona, pointed this out when asked whether the Senate, sitting as impeachment court, can handle the two cases simultaneously.

Del Castillo faces being removed as member of the Supreme Court for alleged plagiarism when he allegedly failed to attribute to previous rulings some portions of his decision dismissing the petition of Filipino comfort women during the World War II asking compensation from the Japanese government.

“P’wede ‘yun. I can tackle it. If they (House prosecutors) want we can handle that (Corona case) one day and this (Del Castillo) case in another day, magsabay, p’wede. Hindi ka tatanggap ng ganitong trabaho kung tamad ka,” Enrile said.

Enrile said that the senators cannot postpone tackling “new” impeachment cases that would be brought before the Senate. “Hindi p’wede. Sinabi ng Constitution ‘pag tinanggap mo ang articles dito sa Senado, trial shall proceed.”

Sen.Panfilo Lacson shared Enrile’s view. “Hindi namin p’wede i-postpone ‘yan. Wala rin sa Constitution o sa rules p’wede kami magkaroon ng first o second division para mag-try. When that happens wala na kaming gagawin dito kundi mag-impeachment trial,” he said.

“Mawawala ang legislative session at committee hearings kasi dito pa lang masyado kaming okupado. Kung papasukan pa kami ng isa pang impeachment na kailangan namin i-try agad-agad, I don’t want to think about it, to put it more bluntly,” he said.

Asked whether the impeachment court can still handle another impeachment case, Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III said:”Hindi siguro. Unless na gugustuhin nila na hindi na kami magle-legislative work. Ibasura na namin ang legislative work at kami ay mag- impeachment court na lang the whole time.”

Meanwhile, Enrile hopes that the House prosecution panel would be more prepared in presenting their complaint against Del Castillo.  “Again they have to study that case very carefully. They have to study the grounds for impeachment,” he said. 

He said that the Senate would see to it that their primary role to enact law would not be affected by the impeachment trials. “We will tackle the legislative work in the morning and handle the impeachment cases in the afternoon. We will budget our time,” Enrile said.