Manila, Sept. 16 -- Senator-judges need not transform themselves into Supreme Court (SC) justices or become bound by judicial technicalities when deciding the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte, retired chief justice Artemio Panganiban said Wednesday.

Responding to a query by Senator-judge Erwin Tulfo, Panganiban said the Constitution deliberately entrusted impeachment trials to elected senators, including those who are not lawyers, instead of requiring the SC to determine the guilt of impeachable officials.

"Hindi po kayo mga huwes, sorry to say that, at hindi kayo kinakailangan maging huwes para magbigay ng hustisya sa impeachment hearings (You are not judges, sorry to say that, and you do not need to be judges to di...