on mobile, tap “Listen in browser”: it’s the statement of the UP College of Media and Communication: There’s soaring orchestral music in accompaniment — always…
Blog admin’s Note: Faced with — and fazed by — the expressions of indignation from the academe, people’s organizations, civil society, and the basic sectors of society, and the brilliant and unifying moves of Senator Koko Pimentel, Senator Risa Hontiveros, and other senators committed to accountability of public officials, the Senate tonight was compelled to take the first step in constituting the Impeachment Court with the oathtaking of SP Chiz Escudero as Impeachment Court Presiding Officer.
Earlier, or this afternoon, the UP College of Media and Communication released a statement on the impeachment and the right of access to information on matters of public concern: It was written, reviewed, revised, and approved by the College Executive Board representing all the departments and institutes in the College: Film, Broadcasting, Communication Research, Journalism, Graduate School, and all the offices of the UPCMC, based on a draft written by four female members of the College who are steeped in the concept and practice of the right of access to information on matters of public concern and the accountability of public officials.
Here it is:
Statement of the College of Media and Communication on the Impeachment Trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, (afternoon of 9 June 2025)
On the Right of Access to Information on Matters of Public Concern and the Constitutional Command to the Senate to Proceed with the Impeachment Trial Forthwith
The College of Media and Communication of the University of the Philippines Diliman – along with its faculty, students, researchers, administrative staff — values the right to a free press, the right to freedom of expression, and all its components, including the right to access to information on matters of public concern. Thus, the College joins the call from a number of educational institutions and academic units to demand the Senate to heed the Constitution to convene the impeachment trial court on June 11, 2025 and to proceed with the trial forthwith.
When the Senate Impeachment Court proceeds with trial, it can give substance to the constitutional right of access to information on matters of public concern. It can open the bank accounts and track all the traces of financial and digital transactions of the Vice President. This right is an inseparable component of the right to a free press and the right to free expression of the people.
When the Senate Impeachment Court proceeds with trial, it can grant immunity to bank officials, disbursement officers, government cashiers, and other personnel involved in the transactions of or with the Vice President. These persons can be witnesses and whistleblowers.
When the Senate Impeachment Court proceeds with trial, it can order the release and presentation in evidence of all certificates, titles, photographs, object evidence, tours and ocular inspections of sites of properties, all showing the wealth — explainable or unexplainable — of the Vice President, her family members, associates and subordinates.
Again, the people’s right of access to information of public interest would be given substance, spirit, and form.
This unreserved power of the Senate Impeachment Court should prevail despite the seeming slowness of Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero and some senators to commence the impeachment trial forthwith. It is certainly this formidable power of the impeachment trial court that makes all impeachable officials quiver.
We urge the people to engage the Senate and all the senators and compel them to convene the Senate Impeachment Court. Ultimately, as history has shown, it is the people moving in unison and acting in their collective capacity that can exact accountability and justice.
It is now time to assemble.
