House enters hearing stage of VP Sara Duterte impeachment case

MANILA, Philippines – The House of Representatives on Wednesday, March 25, enters the stage of the hearing proper on the impeachment complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte.

Wednesday’s agenda include:

• a discussion on the impeachment ground rules
• action on pending motion and requests for subpoena
• determination of the schedule of next hearings
• determination of resource speaker and witnesses to be invited for the first public hearing on April 14

Justice committee chair Jinky Luistro has described the hearing proper as a “mini-trial,” as the proceedings dig deeper into the pieces of evidence of the complainants. The previous meetings of the panel were preliminary and did not dwell on the specific allegations.

Akbayan Representative Chel Diokno previously requested the committee to take custody of Ramil Madriaga, Duterte’s former aide who claimed he had coordinated with the Vice President’s security officers to deliver wads of cash, presumably confidential funds, to various individuals. Madriaga is currently detained at Camp Bagong Diwa.

Diokno also asked the committee to secure copies of Duterte’s Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net worth (SALN) and bank records.

The two petitions separately endorsed by Deputy Speaker Paolo Ortega, human rights committee chair Bienvenido Abante, and Senior Deputy Minority Leader Leila de Lima cited numerous grounds for impeachment, such as culpable violation of the Constitution, bribery, graft and corruption, betrayal of public trust, and other high crimes.

The alleged offenses include her alleged misuse of confidential funds, her alleged fabrications of submissions to the Commission on Audit, her alleged bribery of education officials, her alleged unexplained wealth, and her apparent threats to the life of President Marcos and his family.

Duterte has called the committee proceedings a fishing expedition, and, in her verified answer to the impeachment complaints, questioned the authority of the panel to hear the case.

Her “non-answer,” in the words of the complainants, prompted the justice committee to move forward to the hearing proper. The panel previously declared the complaints sufficient in form and substance, and found that they allege sufficient grounds for impeachment.

The House has 60 session days from February 23 to resolve the complaints. If the committee report favors the move to impeach, a one-third vote in the House plenary will send the case to the Senate for a full trial.

Only a Senate conviction can result in Duterte’s removal and disqualification from public office.

Watch the livestream of the hearing on this page at 10 am on Wednesday. – Rappler.com