Sara Duterte skips impeachment hearing, says complaints should be junked

Vice President Sara Duterte on Wednesday did not attend the initial hearing of the House committee on justice on the impeachment complaints against her, insisting that no policy requires respondents to do so. 

In a statement, Duterte said she would rather spend her time helping people affected by the soaring prices of petroleum products than attend the hearing, which she claimed the House of Representatives is only using to conduct a “third fishing expedition” against her.

“Ang imbitasyon na dumalo sa pagdinig ng Committee on Justice ay tila ginagamit upang makabuo ng isang media narrative na magkakaroon ng ‘mini-trial,’ batay sa umano'y hindi ko pagsagot at hindi pagdalo,” the Vice President said. 

(It seems that the invitation to attend the Committee on Justice hearing is being used to create a media narrative that there will be a ‘mini-trial,’ based on my alleged failure to respond and attend.) 

“Malinaw na walang patakaran na nagsasabing kailangang personal na dumalo ang respondent sa impeachment complaint sa mga pagdinig ng Committee on Justice,” she added. 

(It’s clear that there is no rule that requires the respondent to the impeachment complaint to personally attend the hearings of the Committee on Justice.) 

Earlier on Wednesday, the House Committee on Justice formally began the first day of the hearing on the impeachment complaints against Duterte. This was reached after the panel found the two impeachment complaints to be sufficient in form, substance, and grounds.

But Duterte said that the complaints should be dismissed due to lack of evidence. 

“Naisumite ko na ang aking Answer ad Cautelam. Sa ngayon, wala nang dapat pang gawin ang Komite kundi ibasura ang mga reklamo dahil sa malinaw na kakulangan ng ebidensya,” she said. 

(I have submitted my Answer ad Cautelam. At this point, the Committee has no choice but to dismiss the complaints due to a clear lack of evidence.) 

Duterte's camp on March 16 filed her reply to the impeachment complaints after the committee found them sufficient in substance on March 4.

The impeachment complaints mainly accuse the Vice President of betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the Constitution, among others, over the alleged misuse of P612.5 million in confidential funds, and threatening to kill President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. and his family.

During the hearing, House justice committee chairperson Gerville Luistro questioned Duterte’s faithfulness to her oath of office to follow the Constitution amid her absence in the proceedings.

“She is, apparently, ready to face the accusations and defend herself at length. And yet, it appears she will not even participate. We recall the words of Justice (Noel) Tijam in the previous impeachment against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno: failure to participate in the hearings before the Committee on Justice is tantamount to a culpable violation of the Constitution,” she said. 

“Ang tanong ngayon: maaari rin ba nating sabihin ito sa Bise Presidente (Can we say now that the Vice President is committing culpable violation of the Constitution in skipping our proceedings)?” Luistro asked.—AOL, GMA Integrated News