House yet to transmit impeach raps certification of constitutionality to Senate

The House of Representatives has yet to transmit to the Senate its resolution certifying that the Articles of Impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte complied with the 1987 Constitution.

“It was decided by the House leadership that the secretary general can issue the certification, maybe for everyone’s appeasement. But, it does not necessarily mean that we will transmit such certification to the Senate,” House Impeachment Prosecutor Ysabel Maria Zamora of San Juan City told reporters in an ambush interview on Thursday.

Zamora added that the House Prosecution Panel has also yet to discuss when to transmit the certification to the Senate as she emphasized they are not defying the Impeachment Court’s order but merely "seeking clarification."

“We are giving the message that we follow the rules, we follow the Constitution and we are wondering why they issued such resolution. We are actually asking them why they are questioning our procedures when the mere fact that we transmitted the Articles of Impeachment showed that we followed the procedures in the House, with the procedures laid in the Constitution,” Zamora added.

The resolution was adopted on Wednesday night on the last session day of the 19th Congress.

Zamora, however, reiterated the House Prosecution Panel’s stand that the Senate Impeachment Court cannot remand or return the Articles of Impeachment to the House of Representatives.

“Yun po ang aming stand: wala silang authority to remand the Articles of Impeachment… Ang nakalagay sa Constitution natin, once the Articles of Impeachment has been transmitted by the House of Representatives to the Senate, then the Senate shall conduct trial forthwith,” Zamora explained.

Escudero

Meanwhile, Senate President Francis "Chiz" Escudero, who sits as presiding officer of the impeachment court, also confirmed on Thursday that the Senate has yet to receive any pleading from the House of Representatives regarding the impeachment.

This, as he reiterated that the House prosecution panel has no option but to accept the returned articles of impeachment. 

"'Yun ang pasya ng impeachment court bilang mga taga-usig. Dapat nilang galangin at sundin 'yun. Kapareho sa parte ni VP Sara, dapat galangin at sundin rin niya ang summons na in-issue ng impeachment court," he added. 

(That's the decision of the impeachment court as judges. The House should respect and obey that. Likewise, on the part of VP Sara, she should also respect and obey the summons issued by the impeachment court.)

Escudero also emphasized that communications regarding the impeachment should be submitted through pleadings and not through social media, press conferences, or press releases.

'Clarification'

Zamora also expressed "concerns" over the Senate Impeachment Court’s cancellation of the presentation of the Articles of Impeachment by the House Prosecution Panel.

“Baka nga ma-technical kami. Maybe hindi kami mag-present dahil sinabi nila in their session tapos mababaligtarin eventually. So we just want maybe a written clarification from them just to clear everything,” Zamora said

Zamora, meanwhile, thanked House Speaker Martin Romualdez’s speech at the closing of session of the 19th Congress after he described the impeachment court's move as "deeply concerning."

“We appreciate his message and it shows that the House is strong and committed to pursue this impeachment case,” Zamora said.

She also stated that the speaker has not issued any directive to the House Prosecution Panel regarding the impeachment.

“Honestly, wala pong orders. We are grateful that he has allowed us to do our job by ourselves… Speaker is a lawyer himself and sometimes he would have inputs but this is really on how we will present our case,” Zamora said. —VAL, GMA Integrated News