Lagman shouldn’t sit as prosecutor at Bautista trial, says Roque

As far as Kabayan party-list Representative Harry Roque is concerned, Albay Representative Edcel Lagman should not be part of the prosecution panel if the impeachment case against Commission on Elections chairman Andres Bautista proceeds to trial at the Senate.

"Sino sa tingin ko ang hindi pwedeng umupo doon? Siya, Congressman Lagman, at 'yung iba na sa simula't mula ay tutol sa impeachment," Roque told reporters in a press conference in Quezon City on Thursday.

Roque also named Dinagat Islands Representative Kaka Bag-ao, Magdalo party-list Representative Gary Alejano and Akbayan party-list Representative Tom Villarin as those he does not want to see as prosecutors during the impeachment trial.

"Talagang siguradong hindi dapat umupo 'yun as impeachment prosecutors," he said.

With a vote of 137-75-2, the House of Representatives rejected the Committee on Justice's report dismissing the impeachment complaint against Bautista.

Lagman, however, has consistently opposed the impeachment case against Bautista.

In a statement on Thursday, Lagman said it is "premature" for the House justice committee to prepare the articles of impeachment against Bautista, since there is still no determination by the panel on the substance and sufficiency of the complaint.

"Since Comelec chairman Andres Bautista has resigned effective December 31, 2017, then any impeachment proceedings against is unnecessary because the purpose of an impeachment is ouster of the respondent," he said.

Alejano, meanwhile, said the impeachment of Bautista at the House of Representatives seems to show that the Duterte administration is targeting all independent bodies.

"Our country is slowly heading to a crisis created by the President himself and his allies in government. They are the very persons who are destabilizing the government and the whole country," Alejano said in a statement on Wednesday.

"I encourage the citizens to rally their support to the leaders who remain faithful to their mandates. I also urge everyone to express their dissent against the creeping authoritarianism," he added.

Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas said the 11-member prosecution panel from the House of Representatives will be elected in the plenary. — BM, GMA News