In two separate unanimous votes by all the 53 members present, the
House committee on justice declared on Wednesday, April 29, that there
is probable cause in the third and fourth impeachment complaints filed
by Fr. Jose Saballa et al. and by lawyer Nathaniel Cabrera, respectively
complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte.
“For the record,
nobody registered an objection. And in accordance with our rules, that
means that the motion is approved by unanimous vote,” justice committee
chair and Batangas 2nd district Rep. Gerville Luistro said.
The
committee also granted the manifestation of House senior deputy minority
leader and ML party-list Rep. Leila de Lima to consolidate the two
impeachment complaints against Duterte to prevent duplicating the
committee’s work in preparing the Articles of Impeachment.
De Lima
said the two verified impeachment complaints should be consolidated and
reported to the House plenary as a single integrated set of Articles of
Impeachment, faithfully reflecting the totality of the findings and
evidence adduced in both complaints to enable the House as plenary to
deliberate and act with coherence, efficiency and full clarity.
The third and fourth impeachment complaints were endorsed by De Lima and by Manila 6th
District Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr. and Deputy Speaker and La Union 1 st District Rep. Francisco Paolo Ortega V, respectively.
The
Saballa complaint alleged that Duterte of misused confidential funds,
submitted questionable liquidation documents, committed corruption
during her tenure as education secretary, and threatened to assassinate
President Marcos, First Lady Liza Marcos, and former House speaker
Martin Romualdez.
The fourth complaint accused the Vice President
of procurement irregularities, omissions, and “misdeclarations” in
Duterte’s statements of assets, liabilities, and net worth, unexplained
wealth, and command responsibility for the alleged misuse of public
funds.
Following the determination of probable cause, Luistro
directed the committee to prepare the report and transmit the same to
the complainants, the respondent and justice panel members.
The
unanimous vote now clears the way for the panel to submit its report and
corresponding Articles of Impeachment to the plenary for consideration,
in which a one-third vote of all House members will impeach the Vice
President and immediately send the case to the Senate for trial.
Luistro also announced the continuation of hearing on May 4, 10 a.m. at the People’s Center.
Tax records
Earlier
in the hearing, the justice panel voted 38 against, six in favor and
zero abstention to the opening of the box containing the tax records of
the Vice President and her husband Manases Carpio.
After the
voting was announced, Senior Deputy Majority Leader and Iloilo 3rd
District Rep. Lorenz Defensor moved to keep the sealed box as part of
the official records and have it transmitted to the Senate should the
case reach trial, a motion that was duly seconded by the committee.
At
issue was the National Internal Revenue Code, which requires that tax
documents requested for congressional inquiry be examined in executive
session and in aid of legislation, which were conditions some lawmakers
argued the impeachment proceedings do not satisfy.
For Abante, the box should remain sealed and be left to the Senate to open during the impeachment trial.
De
Lima reiterated her position during last week’s hearing, arguing that
the committee has both the power and the constitutional mandate to
examine Duterte’s tax records since the documents were subpoenaed by the
House committee and are directly relevant to the unexplained wealth
allegation.
Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) slammed the justice
committee’s decision to leave the tax records alone, which it said
favored Duterte.
“Upholding transparency and accountability should
guide the actions of the House instead of buckling down to threats and
legal gymnastics of Sara Duterte, thus enabling corrupt officials like
her to cover up their grave crimes,” Bayan secretary general Raymond
Palatino said in a statement.
VP ditches hearing again
Like
in the previous hearings, Luistro ordered the committee secretary to
call the respondent Vice President repeatedly to show proof that she has
been accorded due process despite her absence.
Duterte was seen in Laguna on Wednesday attending a pop-up exhibit.
According
to Luistro, Duterte’s latest stance that she is only prepared to answer
the allegations against her in the Senate bolsters the impression that
the evidence already laid before the justice committee is enough to move
the impeachment case forward.
“We are now wondering, if it is
where she will answer, isn’t it that she is also recognizing that there
are enough evidence and this case is really going to the Senate?”
Luistro said.
Taken as a whole, Luistro said the Duterte camp’s
move was telling because instead of dismantling the numbers already
placed before the committee, it effectively shifted the argument to
timing, venue and process.
“And that is the three things that they
did. First, they declared that they are ready to answer in the Senate.
Second, they told us to beware and third, the filing of a new case
against us,” Luistro said.
Luistro said the committee would not be
distracted from its constitutional duty by external messaging or
pressure, particularly when the path of the evidence was already
becoming clearer.
Not surprised
Reacting to
the finding of probable cause, the Vice President’s defense team said
it was “not unexpected, given the direction the proceedings had taken.”
“We
respectfully maintain that the proceedings before the committee
departed from the constitutional design,” the 16-person defense team
said in a statement.
“Instead of confining itself to the verified
complaints and their attachments, the process expanded into matters that
properly belong to a full trial,” it added. — With Bella Cariaso, Emmanuel Tupas