DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio formally pleaded “not guilty” to the impeachment complaint filed against her in the Senate but also sought to dismiss the cases on constitutional grounds.
The vice president’s lawyers submitted to the Senate impeachment court last June 23 a 35-page Answer Ad Cautelam (with caution) explaining why the impeachment needs to be dismissed by the Senate.
Duterte’s defense panel argues on two points: the alleged violation of the Constitution’s one-year bar on multiple impeachment complaints against the VP Duterte, and the assertion that no formal Articles of Impeachment are currently with the Senate, as they were returned to the House of Representative on June 10.
They also argued that impeachment proceedings cannot carry over from the 19th to the 20th Congress.
VP Sara was impeached by the House of Representatives last February on grounds of bribery, corruption, betrayal of public trust, misuse of confidential funds, and alleged involvement in an assassination plot against President Marcos Jr and his family.
But the 19th Senate sat on the impeachment case for months, and after days of exhausting debates convened as an impeachment court last June 10, but decided to remand the complaint back to the House.
Duterte denied all charges, labeling them as “false, misleading, impertinent, and mere conclusions of fact and law” and an “abuse of the impeachment process.”
House prosecution panel spokesperson Antonio Bucoy pointed out inconsistencies in Duterte’s response to the complaint and stressed that it is the Senate’s constitutional role to try and decide impeachment cases—not to dismiss them outright.
The prosecution was given five days to reply to Duterte’s filing.
Outgoing ACT Teachers Party-list Representative France Castro, one of the staunch supporters of the impeachment, said the one-year ban on multiple complaints raised by Duterte lawyers was not violated.
“(There’s no ) violation of the one-year ban, as previous complaints were not consumed,” she said in an interview. There were three sets of impeachment complaints filed in the House last year by various groups, but the House voted last February.
Castro also clarified that the impeachment case has not returned to square one because of the remand motion by the Senate. “(The) impeachment complaint (is with the Senate now). Even if it was remanded, (they stated)it is not dismissed,” she said.
“The Constitution does not provide for the dismissal of an impeachment complaint—only an acquittal or conviction as an outcome,” Castro emphasized.
But Castro thinks that the Vice President’s motion could be a “delaying tactic,” potentially leading to an appeal to the Supreme Court, which would further slow the proceedings.
Legal experts have criticized the Senate’s position on the impeachment, as various sectors have called for accountability of the Dutertes, and challenged the Senate to fulfill its duty to uphold the Constitution.
The new Senate is seen to be split between allies of the Dutertes and the Marcoses, along with minority opposition seen to be pursuing the impeachment.(davaotoday.com)
davao city, duterte
