House to begin deliberations on VP Sara impeachment raps next week, March 2

The House committee on justice will start its deliberations on the merits of the four impeachment complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte on March 2, House justice panel chair and Batangas Second District Representative Gerville Luistro said Tuesday.

She made the announcement a day after the House plenary referred the four impeachment complaints against the Vice President to the House Committee on Justice.

“We are considering to start the deliberation of the Justice Committee on March 2, March 3, and March 4. That is Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, at least for the purpose of determining sufficiency in form and substance,” Luistro told reporters in an interview.

“Of course, we cannot start this week as much as we wanted to take action right away because the Justice Committee needs to reproduce the [copy of the] complaints and provide copies to all the members of the Justice Committee,” she added.

The impeachment complaints accuse the Vice President of betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the Constitution, graft, and corruption, mainly over the alleged misuse of P612.5 million of confidential funds and using them as supposed bribes and threatening to kill President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. and his immediate family.

The House Committee on Justice will first have to determine the complaints’ sufficiency in form, then in substance. If the complaints hurdle these first two requirements, the Luistro-led panel will ask the respondent, in this case the Vice President, to file her answer within 10 calendar days.

From the answer, the complainants would have three calendar days to file a reply. Should the respondent seek to file a rejoinder, she can do so within three calendar days.

When all of these are done, the House Committee on Justice will proceed to the hearing proper, where the House justice panel invites the complainant, the witnesses, and the respondent.

“Again, her presence in the hearing is part of her right to due process. So, whether she wishes to come or not, it is actually her prerogative. Kung hindi siya darating doon sa [If she does not attend the] hearing, it will be interpreted merely as her waiver of her right to be present during the hearing,” Luistro said.

She added that the House rules on impeachment do not provide for allowing the respondent to be represented by his or her legal counsel during the proceedings.

“This [matter] will be decided upon by the members, but I wish to advance, wala po sa rules ang participation ng lawyers [the lawyers' participation is not in the rules]. It will only be the members of the Justice Committee who will participate in the deliberation,” she said.

“But if in case there will be [an] intention on the part of the lawyers of the Vice President [to represent her], this will be decided upon by the members,” she added.

Duterte's defense team earlier responded to the filing, saying, "As with the previous complaints, we will address the allegations fully and at the proper time, in accordance with the Constitution and applicable rules."

60 days

The House committee on justice has 60 session days from the referral of the impeachment complaints, or from February 23, to decide whether the allegations have merit, as provided by the House rules. 

This means the Luistro-led panel can decide whether such complaints have merit before the filing of the certificate of candidacy for the 2028 polls, set for the first week of October 2027. 

The Vice President announced her 2028 presidential bid on February 20, three days before the February 23 referral of the impeachment complaints against her. 

Luistro earlier said that she is hopeful that House members will not let the announcement of Duterte's 2028 plans to affect their vote for or against her impeachment. 

She added, however, that the impeachment proceedings would certainly impact how Filipinos will decide on their leader in the 2028 polls.

"Of course [it will have an effect on how they will decide], because dito sa ating proceedings, mapapag-usapan yung grounds [the grounds will be discussed], which are issues being imputed being imputed against the Vice President. So, I think it's possible na maa-apektuhan yung judgment ng Filipino people on how they're going to decide for the next presidential election," she said. 

"But there is no hard and fast rule, really, that this will affect the popularity of the Vice President. It will depend on what will be revealed in the impeachment hearings," she added.

Bank records

Luistro was also asked whether the House justice panel will subpoena Duterte's bank records, as sought by one of the complainants, lawyer Nathaniel Cabrera. 

Cabrera argues that the Vice President's bank records must be subpoenaed by the House for the impeachment proceedings, citing previous House inquiry and Commission on Audit findings which revealed that recipients of the millions of confidential funds of the Office of the Vice President and the Education department under the tenure of Duterte as Education chief have questionable identities, if not suspicious purpose. 

"I do not want to preempt the discussion about the possibility of getting these bank records. We first have to determine whether these impeachment complaints will pass the sufficiency in form and substance," Luistro said. 

"Let us not preempt what will happen in the deliberation. We'll deal with the  initial stages of the  proceeding before the Justice committee first: the determination of form and substance. Because if they do not pass in the standard of form and substance, no further proceeding will happen in the Justice Committee," she added. — VAL/BM, GMA Integrated News