LANAO del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong yesterday admonished Vice President Sara Duterte for accusing the administration of playing politics because she is a “frontrunner” in the 2028 presidential elections, saying being perceived as leading presidential candidate is not a defense against the Articles of Impeachment she is facing.
The Vice President, in an interview with Russia Today on Wednesday night, said the reason behind her impeachment and the arrest of her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, is political because the moves are meant to “eliminate” her from the 2028 presidential elections.
“The survey shows that. And I think they want to eliminate the frontrunner,” she said. “They think that if they take out former President Duterte, they will weaken me because it’s one brand, it’s one family.”
Adiong said Duterte’s claim she was impeached because she is a leading candidate is “a distraction from the real issues of accountability.”
“Let me be very clear: Being a frontrunner is not a defense against serious allegations. It is neither a shield from investigation, nor is it a justification for violating the Constitution,” he told a press conference. “Popularity is not immunity.”
Duterte is facing seven Articles of Impeachment for alleged betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the constitution, graft and corruption, and other high crimes.
Among other actual grounds cited by the House of Representatives in the complaint is her alleged misuse of hundreds of millions on confidential funds using fictitious names such as “Mary Grace Piattos” as recipients, including spending of P125 million in confidential funds within 11 days.
Palace Press Officer Claire Castro, on the frontrunner claim, said it is a narrative that Duterte wants to project to divert attention from the impeachment case against her.
POWER
The Vice President accused President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of trying to perpetuate himself and his family in power, citing the House of Representatives’ moves to amend the 1987 Constitution to pave the way for a shift to parliamentary form of government “where the prime minister is not voted by popular choice.
“Well, it’s all about the refusal or the intent of President Marcos. It is the intent of President Marcos not to step down. He wants to perpetuate himself or his family in power. It is clear from the moves of his administration against political opponents. And in fact, one of his relatives, and this is a personal knowledge of mine, has expressed that he wants to run for president,” she said, apparently referring to her former campaign manager and now nemesis Speaker Martin Romualdez.
When the moves to amend the Charter through people’s initiative failed, the Vice President said, the administration started the impeachment. “And clearly, evidence shows that the members of the House of Representatives, many of them who signed, did not read the articles of impeachment,” she said.
Duterte, who earlier accused lawmakers of being paid to impeach her, said even a member of the House of Representatives has publicly claimed there was money in exchange for the signatures in the impeachment articles.
Adiong said the allegation is “outrageous, malicious, and utterly beneath the dignity of the Office of the Vice President.” He said they signed the impeachment complaint “because we believe in accountability, not because we were bought.”
Manila Rep. Ernesto Dionisio Jr. said the payment claim is meant to divert the public’s attention from the serious allegations of misuse of public funds and other violations.
“We have to act upon it as a constitutional mandate by Congress,” he said. “That’s exactly what the House did. May batayan ba (Is there basis)?… Yes. So that’s why it was elevated to the Senate,” he said.
NO TRIAL, NO DISMISSAL
Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro, also a member of the prosecution, said the Senate, sitting as an impeachment court, has no power to dismiss the impeachment articles without even hearing the case.
She was reacting to Senate President Francis Escudero who has said the complaint can be dismissed on a mere motion of a senator-judge.
“The impeachment court cannot dismiss the Articles of Impeachment,” Luistro told GMA News. “The Constitution is clear. The power/function of the impeachment court is to try and to decide. Let us take note of the use of the word ‘and.’”
Adiong reminded senators of their constitutional duty to hold a trial, saying only after it can the court render a decision of either conviction or acquittal.
Dionisio questioned the legal basis of Escudero’s statement. “I don’t see any reason why. The Constitution specifically says to try and decide,” he said.
Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano said it is “logical” to settle first the issue on “jurisdiction” before the impeachment court can proceed with the actual trial.
He said the issue on whether the House violated the constitutional one-year ban on the filing of more than one impeachment complaint has not yet been despite the submission by the House last Wednesday of a certification saying there was no violation of the ban.
“Jurisdiction must be first determined … Even in the trial courts, they will first determine if they have jurisdiction over a case before they will look at the evidence. So, I can only assure the public that we will reach the presentation of evidence [stage] if the whole impeachment court says that it has no fatal constitutional defect that takes out jurisdiction from the court,” he said in Filipino during a chance interview in Taguig City during the oath taking of her sister, re-elected Sen. Pia Cayetano.
Cayetano said the incoming 20th Congress impeachment court will determine if the House indeed did not violate the one-year rule because there were three complaints filed before the fourth one was transmitted to the Senate.
He also said that while the next impeachment court can decide to dismiss the complaints by a simple majority vote, it does not mean that if they can do it, they should do it.
On returning the articles to the House, he said it will give the House in the 20th Congress the chance to determine if it is still interested in pursuing the case.
He said there is also a possibility the impeachment court of the 20th Congress will rule it no longer has jurisdiction over the complaint, that’s why the issue on jurisdiction must first be settled. – With Raymond Africa and Jocelyn Reyes
