Sara Duterte’s camp won’t object if House has enough numbers to impeach VP

The defense team of Vice President Sara Duterte will not oppose should the House of Representatives gather sufficient votes to impeach her and transmit the complaints to the Senate for the trial proper, Atty. Michael Poa said Monday.

Poa, spokesperson for Duterte’s defense team, said this in response to House Committee on Justice Vice Chairperson and San Juan City Representative Ysabel Zamora, who earlier expressed confidence that the House has enough numbers—at least one-third of its members—to impeach Duterte.

“Kung gusto naman nilang iakyat na, we will not object kasi that's within their power. Talaga namang botohan ‘yan. At kung magkaroon ng botohan at may numero na at mai-akyat sa Senado, ready tayo. Just like we were ready last year,” Poa said in an interview on Unang Balita.

(If they want to raise it to the Senate, we will not object because that's within their power. There really has to be a voting. And if there’s a voting and there are enough numbers to transmit it to the Senate, then we are ready. Just like we were ready last year.) 

To recall, the House of Representatives impeached Duterte in February last year with over 200 congressmen endorsing the verified complaint against her. This was transmitted to the Senate as the articles of impeachment. 

The Senate, sitting as an impeachment court, later voted to transfer to the archives the articles of impeachment against the Vice President, following the Supreme Court's decision declaring her impeachment unconstitutional. 

Duterte’s current defense team has repeatedly said they are willing to answer all the allegations against the Vice President at the proper time and in the proper forum—which they believe is the Senate. 

“So kung sa kanila, sabi nga nila may boto na, iakyat na natin. Do’n naman, malalabas naman din ang mga bagay na ‘to, hindi naman natin maiiwasan ‘yun,” Poa said. 

(If the House members say they have enough votes, then go ahead and raise it to the Senate. All of these things will also come out in the Senate. We can't avoid that.) 

“Now, if they want to fast track and…mag-recommend na ang committee at magbotohan na sa plenary (the committee will already recommend and there will be voting in the plenary), by all means, we will not oppose that,” he added. 

Last week, the House Committee on Justice formally began the hearings 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. —AOL, GMA Integrated News