House minority hits Sara Duterte petition to stop impeachment hearing

Members of the House minority bloc scored Wednesday Vice President Sara Duterte's petition asking the Supreme Court to stop the impeachment hearing against her.

House Senior Deputy Minority Leader and ML party-list Rep. Leila de Lima said the SC does not stand for Sara’s Court.

"Akala siguro nila 'yung SC ay "Sara's Court" na pwede nila laging takbuhan para pagtakpan ang kaduwagan at pagtakas sa pananagutan,” she said in a statement.

(Maybe they are of thought that SC stands for Sara’s Court where they can hide to feign their cowardice and escape from accountability.)

House Assistant Minority Leader Perci Cendaña of Akbayan party-list, for his part, said the Vice President’s petition reeks of desperation amid unanswered questions.

“Natatakot siya na lumabas ang ebidensiya kasi alam ni VP Sara na pag lumabas ang ebidensya, wala na siyang trabaho. Wala siyang karapatan na mag-aspire para higher position,” Cendaña told reporters, referring to the Vice President’s previous declaration of her 2028 presidential bid.

(She has no right to aspire for a higher post.)

“This is a constitutional mandate that we have to fulfill. All of our process are in compliant with the Constitution, the House Rules of Impeachment, and even the ruling of the Supreme Court. There is no reason for this proceedings to be delayed or stopped,” Cendaña added.

In her petition seeking to stop the House impeachment proceedings against her, the Vice President has also asked the High Court to declare Sections 7 and 8 of the House Rules of Impeachment proceedings illegal.

Section 7 on Submission of Evidence and Memoranda provides that "after receipt of the pleadings, affidavits and counter-affidavits and relevant documents provided for in Section 6, or the expiration of the time within which they may be filed, the [House Justice] Committee will determine whether the complaint alleges sufficient grounds for impeachment. 

The same section states that if the House justice panel found sufficient grounds for impeachment do not exist, the Committee shall dismiss the complaint and submit the report required hereunder. But if the Committee finds that sufficient grounds for impeachment exist, "the Committee will conduct a hearing." 

Likewise, this section states that the House justice panel has the power to issue compulsory processes for the attendance of witnesses and the production of documents and other related evidence, and that impeachment hearings will be open to the public except when the security of the State or public interest requires that the hearings be held in executive session. 

Section 8, on the other hand, states that "the House may, upon proper petition, provide adequate protection to a complainant or witness if it is shown that the personal safety of the complainant or witness is in jeopardy because of participating in the impeachment proceeding." 

“We hope that the Supreme Court will see that we are fully compliant with not just the Constitution but even with their own rules,” Cendaña said. —AOL, GMA News