Senator JV Ejercito on Tuesday agreed with Senate President Francis Escudero that Vice President Sara Duterte's impeachment trial should not be rushed.

Ejercito cited the same reason Escudero gave: the House of Representatives allegedly sat on the complaint and sent it last minute to the Senate.

“Marami kasi nagsasabi dapat mag-convene na, kaya lang Congress is on break. I think there was enough time to forward it to the Senate. Nagtataka ako kung bakit naman sa last day, alas singko ng hapon,” Ejercito said 

“So hindi kami yung kumbaga, hindi puwedeng sisihin ang Senado because we were just here. Sana kung mas maaga nila ginawa, finorward, hindi sana inabutan ng break ng Kongreso,” he said. 

The lawmaker said he had yet to read the articles of impeachment because he was in Batangas to promote the country’s motorcycle tourism.

He said there was no clamor among his colleagues to call for a special session.

“Half of our colleagues are not here,” Ejercito said. “So yun ang medyo mahirap at very tricky here. Pano makukumpleto yung impeachment court kung kalahati ay nangangampanya and you cannot blame them, di naman lahat sure eh. These days di ka na nakakasigurado."

"So kung kandidato ka, talagang each day counts. Ninety days to go around the Philippines, kulang na kulang yun. So yun ang problema talaga. Tingin ko yung magiging problema yung how to, paano makukumpleto now that we are on a campaign break,” he continued. 

Asked if he was preparing for a possible trial, he said, “We just cannot talk about it. May instruction si SP sa amin because we will be sitting as Senator-judges so hindi kami puwedeng magsalita sa ngayon anything about it actually. Whether pro or con.” 

On Monday, Escudero said the impeachment would likely happen after the President’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) in July. Ejercito said he was leaving the matter to the Senate leadership and he would follow Escudero’s instruction.

“Siguro we will need to consult mga ano, legal luminaries regarding this matter. Kung ano ba talaga, mayroon bang specified time yan sa Constitution, na kinakailangan within one month we have to act on it, we have to convene the impeachment court. And I’m confident that Senate President Chiz Escudero is a very good lawyer. I’m sure that he would know what direction to take and decision whether to start or when to start or when to convene the impeachment court,” Ejercito said.

He added that he was not excited to sit as senator-judge because he believed there were more pressing issues to address.