Various progressive groups on Wednesday slammed the Senate over the delays in Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial, following a 18-5 vote to remand the articles of impeachment back to the House of Representatives.

Representatives from Akbayan, Tindig Pilipinas, Nagkaisa Labor Coalition, Mamamayang Liberal partylist, Magdalo, and religious, student, and grassroots community organizations gathered for an indignation rally outside the Senate complex to hold accountable the 18 senator-judges who voted to remand the impeachment case, including Senate President Francis Escudero.

Tindig Pilipinas co-convener Kiko Aquino Dee called out the senator-judges for attempting to defend Vice President Duterte themselves, showing their true loyalty to their own interests despite their constitutional duties.

“Where have you seen a court where the judge defends the defendant even before the defendant can speak for themselves?’ Dee said in an ambush interview.

Despite this, Dee believed that justice will prevail because history has proven that the people win in the end.

“It seems that the 18 senators were the ones who won last night, but in the end, throughout the history of the Philippines, it has always been the people who prevail, it is always what is right that triumphs ? and that is what we will make sure wins today,” Dee added.

Meanwhile, Akbayan Representative Perci Cendana said ''the Senate grossly overreached its powers by illegally remanding the articles of impeachment back to the House.''

Akbayan Partylist Rep.-elect Chel Diokno called the remand move as unconstitutional.

“What happened yesterday was an abandonment of the Constitution. The order of the Constitution is clear, to hold a trial immediately,” Diokno said.

ML Partylist Rep.-elect Leila De Lima said that she is dismayed and angered by the Senate’s move.

“The Senators are being called various names. They’re cowards, they protect the powerful and what 18 of them did yesterday, returning the complaint and articles of impeachment to the House of Representatives, is a huge violation of the Constitution. It does not follow the Constitution, it does not follow the rules of impeachment,” De Lima said.

The gathering of progressive groups, initially part of a series of rallies to urge the Senate to begin the impeachment trial against Duterte, turned into a noise barrage following the Senate’s move on Tuesday night to remand the articles of impeachment to the House of Representative over questions on its Constitutional infirmities, leading to the cancellation of the scheduled presentation of articles of impeachment on June 11.

Only five senators voted against the motion: Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III and Senators Risa Hontiveros, Nancy Binay, Grace Poe, and Sherwin Gatchalian. Velle White/DMS