ASEANEWS HEADLINE- COURTS & CRIME | MANILA: VP Sara impeachment transmittal next week?

Vice President Sara Duterte on August 20, 2024./ TAR / Jesse Bustos

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Fast-track mode eyed

MANILA, Philippines — A signature campaign led by the Makabayan bloc is at full throttle in the House of Representatives, with the aim of setting into motion impeachment proceedings against Vice President Sara Duterte, possibly by Monday.

The bloc, comprising militant lawmakers, would have to gather the signatures of at least one-third or 106 of the more than 300 members of the House of Representatives before these are submitted to the plenary, former Bayan Muna party-list representative Neri Colmenares said yesterday.

In an interview with “Storycon” on One News, Colmenares said they are eyeing the “Villar style” of impeachment process against Duterte. He was referring to the rapid procedure that led to the impeachment of then president Joseph Estrada in 2000 when Manuel Villar was House speaker.

“This is about the signing of Articles of Impeachment that will be submitted to the Senate. They should declare it to the plenary. We will collect signatures. The voting is in the plenary. It can be done before the collection of the signatures,” Colmenares said.

 

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Duterte’s ally, Sen. Ronald de la Rosa, said yesterday that he expected the impeachment to proceed.

Colmenares said: “It is allowed that you will gather the signatures, and then once completed, you present it to the plenary with the signatures of those 106 congressmen who will support it. Hopefully, by Monday we would be able to complete the 106 signatures of congressmen.”

Colmenares, who acted as prosecutor in the impeachment trial of chief justice Renato Corona, said Villar managed to immediately transmit to the Senate the Articles of Impeachment against Estrada because the signatures of one-third of House members were gathered in advance.

“The resolution had been brought to congressmen for signing beforehand and the required one-third were already there before it was presented in the plenary,” Colmenares said.

“Even if the majority will say no, it can be transmitted to the Senate. The Constitution sees the impeachment as very rare. It says let the one-third decide or not because if you will allow the majority to rule, it will not reach anywhere because it will be outnumbered,” he added.

He stressed the process of impeachment starts with the submission of the impeachment complaint to the secretary general of the House of Representatives.

From the House secretary general, it will then be transmitted to the Speaker, who will then present it before the plenary.

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The Speaker may refer the impeachment complaint to the House committee on justice or directly transmit the Article of Impeachment to the Senate if the signatures of the one-third or a total of 106 congressmen become available.

Colmenares said the complaint that they filed against Duterte cited only one ground – “betrayal of public trust,” containing only three acts.

“This is different from the Corona impeachment complaint. The complaint cited eight acts and four grounds. That is why it reached four months before it was decided by the Senate. We only cited one ground and three acts. I am confident that it will not reach one month for the Senate to decide on the Vice President’s impeachment,” Colmenares said.

Less difficult
He said the congressmen are unlikely to have a hard time going over the Makabayan bloc’s impeachment complaint because all of the pieces of evidence submitted came from investigations by the House itself.

“The receipts are all official. If they would want it, they can decide on it. Many senators are watching the committee hearings and they are very familiar with the issues. They will not find it difficult,” he pointed out.

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“I am very optimistic. I can only speak on our complaint that was based on the congressional investigation. We decided to present one ground only so that it can easily be resolved,” he added.

“The three acts include violation of the law and circular, fraudulent receipts and refusal to account and attend the congressional hearings. I don’t see any reason why they will not act on it,” he maintained.

Colmenares said it would be bad for the House of Representatives as an institution not to act on the impeachment complaint against Duterte.

“Yes, for me politically it would be bad for Congress. I think they conducted nine hearings at the committee. They cannot just let it slip. This committee can rule within 10 days, either dismiss it or approve it,” he pointed out.

Colmenares said if the complaints are referred to the House committee on justice, it has to choose the strongest one.

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“I don’t see any move to consolidate it now,” he said. “Ours is the strong complaint.”

The first impeachment complaint against Duterte was filed days earlier by civil society leaders, including former senator Leila de Lima.

House secretary general Reginald Velasco said he is holding off the transmittal of the two impeachment complaints because he is still awaiting the filing of a third complaint against Duterte.

“Not yet because we were told that there are others intending to file. So, we will just have one transmittal,” Velasco said, explaining his decision to hold off the transmittal of the two existing complaints. “So, we are on hold. We’re waiting.”

For his part, Bukidnon Rep. Jonathan Keith Flores, vice chairman of the House committee on justice, said they did not receive the official referral of the impeachment complaints filed against Duterte.

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“We just recently found out the second impeachment complaint. There was no referral yet,” Flores said.

Bato expects ‘the worst’
Dela Rosa appears resigned to the possibility of the Vice President’s impeachment.

“I am expecting the worst. There will be an impeachment trial,” Dela Rosa said at a virtual press briefing yesterday.

While he is expected to vote against impeaching Duterte, Dela Rosa vowed to be an “impartial” judge in an impeachment court.

“I will remain objective. Impeachment is a political – not a judicial – process. Chances are it will show your political color. I don’t want to reveal my vote now lest I be branded or stereotyped. But I will do my job,” Dela Rosa said.

While he welcomed President Marcos’ text message to lawmakers urging them not to impeach the Vice President, Dela Rosa said Marcos’ “words must be compensated with action, so that it would not be just lip service.”

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He dared the President to stop what he described as the longtime plan of the House of Representatives – under the leadership of Marcos’ cousin Speaker Martin Romualdez – to impeach Duterte on the basis of her alleged confidential funds misuse.

“That has been their plan all along. It is well-planned from the very beginning, to investigate her and form the basis for impeachment. We are preparing for the worst,” Dela Rosa said.

Dela Rosa said he couldn’t help but feel like the Duterte camp had been “scammed” by the once formidable UniTeam alliance, which catapulted Marcos and Duterte to power in the 2022 elections.

The team is now in shambles after the Vice President issued death threats against the President and Romualdez.

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“I just feel bad that the UniTeam – once meant to show unity among us – ended with us criticizing each other. It felt like the people were scammed,” Dela Rosa said in Filipino.

The 24-member Senate needs a two-thirds vote to convict an impeachable official, which means Duterte only needs nine senators to secure an acquittal.

Echoing the Vice President, Dela Rosa said the current political tension between Marcos and Duterte may have reached a point of no return.

Dela Rosa criticized what he described as excessive scrutiny of the Vice President, especially by the House of Representatives quad committee.

“It looks like that – point of no return. It’s really too much. Even ordinary people can feel the pressure on our VP,” Dela Rosa told The Philippine STAR’s “Truth on the Line.”

Dela Rosa also pointed to what he described as a “grand design” to dismantle the Duterte bloc, particularly in light of the ongoing investigations on confidential fund use and other allegations.

“Just imagine, from extrajudicial killings to corruption probes, it’s all moving in one direction – to pin down the Duterte family,” he said.

“It’s clear to us who’s behind this. We are not stupid. We know the ambitions of the Speaker of the House,” Dela Rosa added.

Meanwhile, the Philippine National Police (PNP) has started security preparations for the rally of the Iglesia ni Cristo against the impeachment of Duterte.

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The religious group, in its television network NET 25, announced its members would be holding rallies in support of the President’s call against the filing of impeachment complaints against Duterte.

Brig. Gen. Jean Fajardo, PNP public information officer, said they have a security template for rallies by large groups. — Cecille Suerte Felipe, Marc jayson Cayabyab, Emmanuel Tupas

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