OVP spox: 'We'll save millions if SC decides vs Sara Duterte impeachment trial'

The government will be able to save millions worth of public funds should the Supreme Court decide in favor of the petitions seeking to dismiss the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte, her spokesperson said Wednesday. 

In a press conference, OVP spokesperson Ruth Castelo said that Duterte’s camp will proceed on the next steps in the looming impeachment trial depending on the decision of the High Court. 

“If the Supreme Court says there is no need because it should be dismissed for technical reasons or whatever reason that the court gives, if it's for the impeachment trial, that is fine, the Vice President is ready,” the OVP spokesperson said. 

“If it's not, if the Supreme Court says it cannot be heard at this time, then we'll be very lucky actually as a country because we'll save millions and millions of money on the trial that is technically defective from the beginning,” she added. 

The SC has required the Senate of the Philippines and the House of Representatives to comment and submit information regarding Duterte’s impeachment trial.

This, as the SC En Banc consolidated the petition filed by Duterte against the validity and constitutionality of the fourth impeachment complaint against her and the petition filed by lawyer Israelito Torreon and others seeking to declare the articles of impeachment null and void.

Castelo stressed that the government has better issues to allocate the resources supposedly for the conduct of the trial. 

“So okay lang na, kung hindi talaga dapat na ituloy. Tama lang rin naman, huwag tayong magsayang ng resources ng bansa. Mas marami tayong kailangan na paggastahan kaysa sa trial na matetechnical din sa dulo,” she said.

(So it's okay, if the trial shouldn't be continued. It's also right, let's not waste the country's resources. We could spend that on other matters instead of the trial that may face technical issues at the end.) 

Eager to answer

Castelo said Duterte is “ready and eager” to face the impeachment trial to defend herself from the allegations thrown against her. 

This in response to a recent SWS survey revealing that 66% of Filipinos have agreed that Vice President Sara Duterte should address the impeachment charges to answer all the corruption claims against her. 

“The Vice President is ready, she's been saying that. And she's eager to be able to present her case or her evidence in the impeachment court so that once and for all, all doubts cast on her will go away. And that's what she wants,” Castelo said.

“But there are legal strategies, there are legal remedies that any lawyer can take. So in this case, the lawyers of the Vice President are taking legal remedies, legal strategies that are allowable in our system. So we'll wait,” she added. 

The SWS survey conducted in June and commissioned by Stratbase showed that 19% of the  1,200 adult respondents nationwide did not agree that Duterte should address the impeachment charges, while 15% were undecided.

The House of Representatives impeached Duterte on February 5, with the Senate impeachment court convening on June 10. That day, the Senate voted to return the articles of impeachment without dismissing or terminating the case.

The Vice President was accused of betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the constitution, graft and corruption, and other high crimes.

Duterte, meanwhile, entered a “not guilty” plea in the verified impeachment complaint filed against her, which she called merely a “scrap of paper.” —AOL, GMA Integrated News