Two impeach raps vs. VP Sara Duterte sufficient in form —House justice panel

The House committee on justice on Monday found the two impeachment complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte sufficient in form.

The House justice panel found the third and fourth impeachment complaints against the Vice President compliant with the Supreme Court decision which only allows the initiation of one impeachment proceeding against an official per year and has at least one endorser from the ranks of the House members.

Ahead of finding these complaints sufficient in form, the House justice panel decided to set aside the first impeachment complaint filed against the Vice President by Makabayan coalition and allied groups last February 2 for being in violation of the one-year bar rule.

The first impeachment complaint alleges that the Vice President betrayed public trust due to the following acts:

• ordering subordinates to prepare implausible accomplishment reports supported by fabricated liquidation reports and falsified documents for submission to the Commission on Audit to support the use of confidential funds; and
• dereliction of official duty with her willful refusal to recognize congressional oversight during budget deliberations and its authority to conduct inquiries in aid of legislation.

These same allegations were present in the second, third, and fourth complaints.

"As you have witnessed, a motion was raised by the Honorable [Joel] Chua [of Manila] to resolve first the compliance of the one-year bar rule before we proceed to the determination of sufficiency in substance. And it is the intention of the Justice Committee to include that [compliance in the determination of sufficiency in form because we understand that the one-year prohibition is part of the procedural requirement which must be complied with when filing an impeachment [complaint]," House justice panel chairperson and Batangas Second District Rep. Gerville Luistro said at a press conference after Day 1 of the deliberations. 

Earlier in the day, Tindig Pilipinas also formally withdrew its second impeachment complaint filed against the Vice President last February 2 and decided to throw its support behind the third impeachment complaint.

During the deliberations, opposition lawmakers said the video of the Vice President apparently threatening to kill President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. and his family and the alleged manufactured recipients of confidential funds, among others, are evidence she is guilty of impeachable offenses.

House Deputy Minority Leaders Leila de Lima of ML party-list, Antonio Tinio of ACT Teachers party-list, and Rep. Sarah Elago of Gabriela party-list made the position during Day 1 of the deliberation on the merits of impeachment complaints against Duterte.

“As to the opinion of some people that there are no “smoking guns” in this and the other complaint, I beg to disagree. The video containing the Vice President’s threat to kill the President, the First Lady and then House Speaker, as well as the media interview where she affirmed it, is a smoking gun,” De Lima, one of the endorsers of the three impeachment complaints, said.

“The numerous Documents Evidencing Payments (DEPs) with fictitious names are smoking guns. Saballa, et al’s  complaint is replete with many other documentary evidence which are also smoking guns,” she added.

De Lima was referring to the acknowledgement receipts of confidential fund recipients of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and Department of Education, then headed by Duterte, as revealed during the House inquiry on the budget use of the two agencies.

It was also revealed that the Commission on Audit issued notice of disallowance on P73 million of the OVP’s confidential funds.

“I reiterate, this House has impeached Vice President Sara Duterte before. The records are clear. This House already determined, at least once, that the allegations against her were serious enough to trigger the constitutional process. So I ask, respectfully but directly: What has changed? Have the allegations disappeared? Have the official reports and audit findings been withdrawn? Have the sworn testimonies been recanted?” De Lima said.

“Hindi ito simpleng administrative lapse. Ito ay pondo ng taong bayan. Ang pondo para sa edukasyon, para sa mga bata, para sa kinabukasan ay hindi maaaring mabalot ng pagdududa at kakulangan at mga kwestyonabling dokumentasyon. [And if] envelopes containing cash were indeed distributed to influence official actions, that is not merely an ethical lapse. It is a direct assault on public trust,” she added.

(This is not a simple administrative lapse. This is about public funds that should have been spent on education, the welfare of children...for the country's future. This should not be clouded with doubts and questionable documentation.) 

Tinio, for his part, said the Vice President cannot get away with the bogus recipients of the confidential funds which, more than anything, are public funds.

“Nakakita tayo ng mga ‘dubious accomplishment reports’ at mga pekeng resibo. Sino ang makakalimot kay ‘Mary Grace Piattos’? Isang pangalang hindi matagpuan sa kahit anong rekord ng gobyerno, ngunit ginamit para pirmahan ang paglabas ng pondo ng bayan. Ito ay isang malinaw na panloloko at pambabastos sa proseso ng audit,” he said.

(We have seen the dubious accomplishment reports and fake receipts.  Who could forget Mary Grace Piattos? That is the name that we can't find in government records, but was used to justify the release of government funds. This is clear deceit and disrespect of audit procedures.) 

“Batay sa mga ebidensyang ito, maliwanag na dapat ma-impeach si Vice President Duterte,” he added.

(Based on these evidence, it is clear that the Vice President should be impeached.)

Likewise, Tinio said that the Vice President has never offered a reasonable explanation as to who benefited from the confidential fund releases.

“Sa harap ng mga akusasyong ito, ano ang naging tugon ng Bise Presidente? Paiba-iba. Noong una, sinabi niyang ginamit daw ang CF (confidential fund) para sa "national security" at counter-insurgency dahil magkaugnay daw ang national security at education. Nang magbitiw sa Gabinete, sinabi niyang ginamit daw ang pondo para imbestigahan ang "laptop deal" sa DepEd—bagay na itinanggi mismo ng kanyang sariling mga opisyal,” he said.

(Amid these allegations, what was the response of the Vice President? Initially, she said that the confidential funds are for national security and education. When she resigned from the Cabinet, she said it was used to investigate the [overprices] laptop deal in DepEd, something that were already denied by DepEd officials.)

“Ngayong wala na siyang maipalusot, ginagamit niya ang huling alas: ang ‘politika’. Ngunit tandaan natin: dahil inialok niya ang sarili para sa pinakamataas na posisyon sa bansa, lalong dapat siyang isalang sa matinding pagsusuri.  Hindi ‘politika’ ang paniningil sa P612.5 million winaldas na pondo. Public office is a public trust. At kapag ang tiwalang iyan ay nilapastangan, kapag ang kaban ng bayan ay ginawang personal na piggy bank, wala nang ibang nararapat na hatol kundi ang pagpapatalsik. Dapat siyang ma-impeach,” he added.

(When she was pushed into a corner, she played her last card: politics. But we should remember, since she wants to tbe President, all the more that we should subject her to intense scrutiny. Asking what happened to P612.5 million of public funds is not about politics. She should be impeached because she betrayed public trust and treated public funds as her own money.)

Elago, on the other hand, said that wastage of public funds cannot be set aside.

“Habang hirap na hirap ang ordinaryong kababaihan sa pagbabudget sa araw-araw, limpak-limpak na salapi pala ang winawaldas lamang ng ating pinakamatataas na opisyal. At habang daan-daang milyong piso ang mabilis na winawaldas para sa mga lihim na gastusin, nananatiling kulang na kulang ang mga silid-aralan, mababa ang sahod at support ang natatanggap ng mga guro at mag-aaral,” she said.

(While Filipino women struggle in making ends meet, we have a Vice President who just waste the public funds away. And while hundreds of millions are spent on secret funds, we have shortage of classrooms, and low wages for workers and lack of support for teachers and students.)

“Kaya naman, malinaw ang pattern ng pagkakanulo sa tiwala ng publiko, ang pag-abuso sa kapangyarihan, pamimeken ng mga record at pagharang sa pananagutan. Kaya mariin namin hinihikayat ang komite na ito at ang buong kapulungan, suportahan natin ang reklamo ito upang pairalin ang prinsipyong walang sinuman ganuman kataas ang posisyon ang makaiiwas sa pananagutan,” she added. 

(The pattern of betraying public trust, abusing power, faking records, and stopping accountability mechanisms is very clear. And so we ask this committee and the House as a whole to uphold the principle that nobody is above the law, no matter how high-ranking that official is.)

Lawyer Michael Poa, the counsel for the Vice President, reserved his comment.

"The Defense Team does not see the need to comment at this point. We will simply continue to monitor the proceedings and provide comments if and when necessary," Poa said in a statement. — AOL/RSJ, GMA Integrated News