Luistro: Threats from top officials are 'never just imagination'

Threats from high-ranking public officials are never just imagination, House justice panel chairperson Gerville Luistro of Batangas said Wednesday. 

Luistro made the assertion in her opening statement on Day 2 of the discussion on the sufficiency in substance of the impeachment complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte.

The impeachment complaints accuse the Vice President of betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the Constitution, among others, mainly due to the alleged misuse of P612.5 million of confidential funds and threats to kill President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. and his family, including her desire to remove the head of the chief executive.

“Threats from high office are never just imagination. They carry weight. They create fear. They can destabilize institutions,” Luistro said. 

“At one point, an example involving a public figure seen in a mall was offered to illustrate the harmlessness of imagination. I will not dwell on that illustration. I will simply say this: This Committee is not a forum for fantasy. Hindi ito sinehan. Hindi ito komedya,” Luistro added.

She was referring to Quezon City Fourth District Representative Bong Suntay, who said the Vice President’s desire is not impeachable or a crime, just like his imagination after seeing Anne Curtis in a mall.

Luistro then underscored that the House justice panel is a venue for exacting accountability. 

“Let me say this clearly: Impeachment is not about premonition. It is not about imagination. It is about constitutional accountability,” she added.

In a separate interview on Wednesday, Suntay said he regrets his comments offended some but stands by his position that he did nothing wrong.

“I stand by my statement. That analogy was used to prove that statements are oftentimes taken out of context. Nagsisisi ako na may nasaktan na mga kababaihan (I regret that I have hurt women) because that was never the intention ng aking statement,” he said.

“Kagaya ng sinabi ko, hindi tayo perpektong tao. Maling analogy, hindi nagustuhan ng iba. Well, sorry doon sa mga hindi nakagusto. But actually, in fact that analogy was effective. Dahil hindi ninyo ako papansinin kung hindi binigay ‘yung analogy na ‘yun. Which is very sad,” Suntay added.

(Like I said, I am not a perfect person. It was a wrong analogy, some people did not like it. Sorry to those who found it distasteful. You won't even notice if I did not mention that analogy.) —AOL, GMA Integrated News