Luistro: No-show in impeach hearings risks VP’s defense
The chair of the House justice committee on Tuesday cautioned Vice President Sara Duterte against skipping the hearings on the two impeachment complaints filed against her, saying this will hurt her defense of the case.
The committee opens its hearing proper on Wednesday to evaluate evidence in the two complaints, after these had been deemed sufficient in form, substance, and grounds. As of Tuesday night, Duterte hasn’t confirmed if she will attend the hearing.
If the Vice President skips the hearings, she is effectively waiving her right to present documents and testimonies to refute the allegations against her, Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro, justice committee chair, told reporters in an online interview.
“And it will be, should I say, to the disadvantage of the Vice President. She will lose the opportunity to question the evidence laid down by the complainant,” she said, noting that if the allegations are unchallenged, committee members “might vote in favor of the existence of probable cause.”
But if Duterte shows up and is able to “refute the allegations,” then “there’s a possibility that the complaint will be dismissed,’’ she added.
Tiangco: Expedite hearings
Last week, the Vice President beat the deadline at the last minute to file her formal reply to the two complaints. She is accused of misusing P612.5 million in confidential funds, corruption at the education department on her watch as secretary from 2022 to 2024, and plotting to kill President Marcos, first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and former Speaker Martin Romualdez, among others.
Only two of the four earlier complaints are now being deliberated upon by the House justice panel after determining their sufficiency in form, substance and grounds.
Luistro also balked at Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco’s resolution asking the committee to expedite the hearings, saying Duterte should be given all the chance to refute the allegations against her in accordance with the House rules on impeachment.
In House Resolution No. 894, Tiangco asked the committee to hold hearings while Congress is on a break from March 21 to May 3 to allow the House to focus on legislation addressing the energy crisis when sessions resume.
“So if they have a lot of evidence at hand already, and it is sufficient to impeach, then why would we prolong this? Let’s just craft a committee report and vote on this once we return, as soon as we get back to Congress,” Tiangco said on Monday.
In response, Luistro said the substance of the hearing and the respondent’s right to due process should not be compromised.
“In this hearing proper, we are giving opportunity to the respondent to challenge, to controvert, to refute the complaint being the allegations of offenses, allegations of grounds, or even the evidence which will be presented by the complainant during the hearing proper. And definitely, we cannot skip this process because this forms part of the due process of the respondent,” she added.
‘External pressures’
If Duterte fails to show up on Wednesday, the committee will again invite her to its next hearings on April 14, 22 and 29.
“Actually until the hearing proper is done, we will keep on sending [an] invitation to her, so that at any point of the entire hearing proper, she can actually come,” Luistro said.
On Wednesday, the panel will address the motion of Akbayan party list Rep. Chel Diokno for the subpoena of documents and the protective custody of key witnesses, as well as points raised by Bicol Saro party list Rep. Terry Ridon on the prospect of two of Duterte’s lawyers as potential witnesses.
Luistro also squelched speculations about “external pressures” to steer the committee hearings toward a certain narrative.
“To be honest, there’s none, right? I’ve been hearing from social media that there is supposedly pressure coming from the leadership of the House, that there is another set of representations coming from the Duterte camp, but in either party, we have not felt, heard, or experienced any pressure about this impeachment proceeding,’’ she said.
“We owe our fidelity to the sovereign Filipino people, we do not owe it to the President, to the Vice President, neither do we owe it to any religious group. This is true because what we follow here is the mandate of the Constitution,” she added.
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