Sara camp files 3rd plea vs House impeach raps
Supporters of Vice President Sara Duterte filed with the Supreme Court on Friday a third petition challenging the ongoing impeachment proceedings in the House of Representatives.
Fourteen individuals, including former Commission on Education (CHEd) Commissioner Ronald Adamat, filed their motion to intervene on Friday to assail what they claimed to be a “constitutionally defective” process that may lead to “political harassment” against Duterte.
The other petitioners were members of the One Bangsamoro Movement, plus 12 lawyers, led by Jerryl Rondez-Layog. Their petitions followed the petitions filed separately by Duterte and lawyer Israelito Torreon over the last two weeks.
The third petition asked that the high tribunal issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) or writ of preliminary injunction on the procedures taken by the House committee on justice.
Of four impeachment complaints lodged in the House, only the third and the fourth complaints remained in the lower chamber, but the petitioners argued that the complaints were unconstitutional because they claimed lawmakers failed to furnish copies to all House members.
“The constitutional condition for informed plenary participation is absent,” the petition read. “The referral process is thereby tainted by grave abuse of discretion because it converts what Duterte recognized as a deliberative constitutional stage into a hollow procedural passage controlled by officers rather than meaningfully owned by the House as a whole.”
The high court directed the House to respond within 10 days, but did not issue a temporary restraining order on the hearings by the House committee on justice.
Dilatory tactic
Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro, who chairs the House panel on justice, remained unfazed by the petitions filed before the high court as she maintained that the proceedings under her watch are “fully constitutional.”
“[The panel is] strictly following the rules of the House, the Constitution, and relevant Supreme Court rulings,” she had said on Thursday. “In the absence of a [TRO], the committee will proceed as scheduled.
Mamamayang Liberal Rep. Leila de Lima, who endorsed the third impeachment complaint, earlier lambasted Duterte’s camp for seemingly thinking that the SC refers to “Sara’s Court” and not the Supreme Court.
Manila Rep. Joel Chua, on the other hand, said: “The filing of a petition with the Supreme Court is clearly a dilatory tactic … Why refuse to answer in the House, but keep filing petitions in the Supreme Court to stop the process?” he asked
The committee is now gathering evidence to determine if the allegations against Duterte can be brought to a full vote by the chamber. “She should no longer block the process that she herself asked the Supreme Court to uphold last year,” Chua added.
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