Manila: House trial spokesperson and Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong on Wednesday criticized Vice President Sara Z. Duterte's answer to the Articles of Impeachment, saying it failed to directly address the allegations against her and merely repeated procedural objections that her camp has long raised.
According to Philippines News Agency, during the Kapihan sa Manila Bay media forum, Adiong said the House prosecution panel expected the Vice President's defense team to present substantive responses and evidence to refute the charges now pending before the Senate impeachment court. 'But what we didn't expect is that the answers are still the same. It's a non-answer to the articles of impeachment because they've been publicly questioning the process by which even the Supreme Court has already laid down guidelines,' Adiong said.
He noted that the Supreme Court, in Duterte v. House of Representatives, affirmed the House's exclusive power to initiate impeachment proceedings while requiring that due process be observed. Adiong said the House Committee on Justice conducted extensive proceedings to determine whether the allegations contained in the impeachment complaints were supported by evidence establishing probable cause.
The House trial spokesperson also pointed out that Duterte and her representatives were repeatedly invited to participate in the proceedings but chose not to attend. Adiong said the latest filing by Duterte's legal team appears to be aimed at persuading the Senate impeachment court to dismiss the case outright rather than address the allegations on their merits.
'So, what they intend to actually achieve is for the impeachment court to dismiss the impeachment complaints, which I believe the Senate acting as impeachment court, has no option to do that under the Constitution once they have taken jurisdiction and assumed jurisdiction over these complaints,' he said. 'The Senate need not do anything other than to reach a decision whether to acquit or to convict the respondent, in this case the Vice President,' he said.
He said the public expected the Vice President's answer to directly confront the accusations and provide evidence contradicting the charges. 'The people deserve to get straight answer from the Vice President, a straight answer from the defense as to countering these allegations,' Adiong added. Instead, the filing largely rehashed earlier arguments questioning the validity of the impeachment process.
Adiong noted that public support for allowing the impeachment proceedings to move forward continues to grow. 'The people themselves, the public themselves, agree that the process has to go through and has to move forward. In this case, the Senate should now proceed to the actual impeachment trial,' he said. 'I do firmly believe that our senators understand their constitutional duty because the House of Representatives has already performed our constitutional duty,' he added.
