VP Duterte impeachment trial delay may endanger evidence, witness 鈥� Chua
Vice President Sara Duterte heads to the podium at her first press conference since being impeached. After saying, “God save the Philippines,” she downplayed the move to oust her, telling journalists at the end that it was more painful to lose a lover than to be impeached by the House of Representatives. — LYN RILLON
MANILA, Philippines — Manila 3rd District Rep. Joel Chua on Friday warned that delaying the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte may endanger the evidence and witnesses.
Chua, a member of the House of Representatives’ prosecution team, said that while they respect Senate President Francis Escudero’s views on when the impeachment trial should start, they cannot help but express concerns about the risks brought by the delay.
“The reason why we want the impeachment to start is because you know, we are also looking at the evidence that we have gathered, these may be tampered,” Chua said during a press briefing.
“Second, our witnesses, of course, we are concerned that if the hearings would take some time before starting, many of them might be scared,” he added.
On Wednesday, Escudero said the trial would start on July 30 — when the 20th Congress starts office — and end in October.
Article continues after this advertisementREAD: Senate can wrap up Sara Duterte impeachment trial in 3 months – Escudero
Article continues after this advertisement“As of now, what we can do is to appeal. At the end of the day, of course, we also respect the views of the senators, especially the Senate President. We will talk about that, but that is one thing that me and the other prosecutors are considering and worrying about,” Chua said in Filipino.
The House impeached Duterte last February 5 after 215 lawmakers filed and verified a fourth impeachment complaint hinged on several issues like alleged misuse of confidential funds lodged within her offices, threats to ranking officials including President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., and conduct unbecoming of a Vice President.
The articles of impeachment were immediately transmitted to the Senate as the 1987 Constitution requires a trial to start forthwith if at least one-third of all House members — in this case, 102 out of 306 — have signed and endorsed the petition.
READ: House impeaches VP Sara Duterte, fast-tracking transmittal to Senate
However, the trial has yet to start as the articles of impeachment were not forwarded to the Senate plenary before the session ended on February 5. It means Congress would have to reconvene first after the election season, or through a special session to discuss the matter.
There are also conflicting opinions regarding whether it is proper for the current Senate to start the trial when the 2025 midterm elections will surely change the composition of the legislative chamber.
Despite these concerns, the House and the Senate have started preparing for the impeachment trial.
On Friday morning, House Secretary General Reginald Velasco confirmed that he released Memorandum order No. 19-1006, which directs the following offices to perform these duties:
- Office of the House Secretary General (OSG), Legislative Operations Department, Legal Affairs Department, other reserve units: Secretariat
- OSG Support, Office of the Sergeant-at-arms, Information and Communications Technology Service: Support services on a rotation basis
Among the functions of the units would be to provide plenary support, legal research, records management, stenographic transcription, information technology, security, and administrative coordination.
The House’s formation of the secretariat comes after Escudero last Wednesday outlined the duties of offices and officials once the impeachment trial starts.
READ: Escudero readies ‘administrative support’ to Senate for VP’s impeachment
Prosecutor and Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Raul Angelo Bongalon said Escudero’s decision may be a signal that the Senate is now tackling the matter with a sense of urgency.
However, Bongalon still hopes that the trial will start sooner than July 30.
