Don’t count on VP response to impeachment complaints–lawyer
Vice President Sara Duterte “will never respond” to the impeachment complaints filed against her at the House of Representatives, according to one of the complainants.
Lawyer Dino de Leon, who filed the second of four earlier impeachment complaints against Duterte, believes she “will use other diversions” rather than “respond to the allegations because all of these are true.”
He said Duterte’s announcement of her presidential bid last February is a “tactic” intended to jump the gun on any further impeachment moves by portraying her opponents as “politicking.”
That announcement is also aimed at “scaring off” House lawmakers against “cross[ing] her line” in the event she is elected president, De Leon said at a forum in Quezon City on Saturday.
Duterte has so far remained a consistent front-runner in recent presidential surveys.
Last-minute reply
The Vice President has been invited by the House committee on justice to attend its ongoing impeachment hearings next scheduled on March 25.
Her lawyers have yet to confirm her attendance, although last week, she beat a deadline at the last minute to file her formal reply to the two impeachment complaints lodged against her before the committee.
Duterte is accused, among other things, of misusing P612.5 million in confidential funds, corruption at the Department of Education on her watch from 2022 to 2024, and plotting to kill President Marcos, first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and former Speaker Martin Romualdez.
Only two of the four earlier complaints are now being deliberated upon by the House justice panel after they were deemed sufficient in form and substance.
VP’s wealth
The committee had set aside an initial complaint by the Makabayan bloc, while the second complaint filed by De Leon was withdrawn in favor of the third, filed by activist coalition Tindig Pilipinas. Lawyer Nathaniel Cabrera filed the fourth and last complaint.
De Leon said Duterte’s unexplained wealth will be a strong case against her.
“The moment that all the money and wealth have been proven, the burden of evidence shifts on Sara Duterte to prove that these were legitimately acquired,” he said.
“If she cannot prove [it], that’s already sufficient… to remove her from office,” he said.
Academic Roland Simbulan said the Vice President should attend the impeachment proceedings and respond to the allegations against her, instead of resorting to “excuses” such as the Middle East conflict.
Duterte had criticized the administration of her estranged ally, Mr. Marcos, for prioritizing her impeachment over the Middle East conflict and the plight of Filipino workers there.
Enough ‘excuses’
In a phone interview, Simbulan said Duterte “should respond properly to the questions” raised at the House justice panel.
“She’s being given all the chance to air her side through the proceedings,” said the retired professor and current chair of think tank Center for People Empowerment in Governance.
Duterte should stop invoking the situation in the Middle East because “she’s not even involved in the repatriation efforts and she’s not even from the DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs),” Simbulan said.
“So it’s very clear that she’s just looking for an excuse not to appear,” he said.
“If she has nothing to hide, she should not be afraid, and she and her lawyers must prepare their response to the justice committee, for the sake of accountability,” he said.
Bicol Saro Partylist Rep. Terry Ridon, a member of the House justice panel, on Sunday said the committee’s handling of the charges against Duterte will be “rules-based” and “evidence-based.”
He cited Duterte’s financial statements, which he said will be duly noted including its discrepancies.
“And if the matter is brought before the Supreme Court, the committee is ready to defend the process properly, fairly, and in accordance with the Constitution,” he said. —WITH A REPORT FROM KEITH CLORES
