Davao Cong. Paolo Duterte Speaks on VP Sara Duterte’s Impeachment Trial
PAOLO DUTERTE – The Davao Congressman defended his sister, Vice Pres. Sara Duterte, on not attending her impeachment trial.
Vice Pres. Sara Duterte has not attended a day of her impeachment trial in the Senate. The proceedings are ongoing for a few weeks now. The Vice President is accused of several issues including her alleged misuse of the confidential funds of the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education when she was the DepEd secretary.
Two out of four impeachment complaints filed against Duterte before the House of Representatives were found substantial in form, substance, and grounds by the House Committee on Justice. Here are some of the grounds raised against the Vice President:
- Alleged culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust, and other high crimes in amassing and converting the amount over PHP 500 million confidential funds (CF) allocated to the Office of the Vice President from 2022 to 2023
- Alleged culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust, and other high crimes in amassing and converting the amount of not less than PHP 112.5 million of confidential funds allocated to the Department of Education (DepEd) for the year 2023
- Alleged culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust by corrupting and bribing officials of the DepEd
- Alleged culpable violation of the Constitution, betrayal of public trust, and other high crimes in contracting to murder or assassinate the president, the first lady, and the former speaker of the House
- Alleged culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust in amassing unexplained wealth and failing to disclose all her properties and interests in properties in her SALN
- Alleged culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust in committing acts of political destabilization and the high crimes of sedition and insurrection
Sen. Chiz Escudero is the presiding officer in the impeachment trial of Vice Pres. Sara Duterte. His lead did not gain the support of all senator-judges as the bloc led by House minority leader Alan Peter Cayetano believes that it should be Senate Pres. Sherwin Gatchalian who must allegedly lead the impeachment court.
Recently, amid the ongoing impeachment trial of Vice Pres. Sara Duterte, Akbayan Citizens’ Action Party National Pres. Rafaela David claimed that the Vice President must “show up” if she wants to speed up the proceedings. Her remarks came after Duterte expressed her desire for a speedy impeachment trial.
Davao Cong. Paolo Duterte reacted to the remarks of the Akbayan Citizens’ Action Party Leader. Through a post on social media, the elder brother of Vice Pres. Sara Duterte stressed that every lawyer knows that the presence of the Vice President in the trial is not required.
“Speedy trial does not mean speedy surrender to a predetermined narrative. Ang impeachment, kagaya ng mga ordinaryong kaso, ay ang paglalatag ng mga ebidensya na naaayon sa complaint o depensa ng mga partido. Alam ng bawat abogado na hindi kailangan ang araw-araw na presensya ng ating VP sa impeachment trial unless kung gusto niyo lang siyang ipahiya,” the Davao Congressman wrote.
Furthermore, Davao Cong. Paolo Duterte said that the lawyers of Vice Pres. Sara Duterte should be allowed to do their job as her defense team. In his post, he stressed that the absence of the Vice President in the trial supposedly does not mean that she’s shying away from accountability.
“Kung gusto nilang marinig ang depensa, hayaan natin na gawin ng mga abogado ni VP ang trabaho nila. Hindi porke’t hindi siya nakaupo sa hearing room ay maaari nang sabihing umiiwas siya sa accountability. Ang mahalaga ay ang ebidensiya, ang due process, at ang patas na pagdinig,” Duterte stated.
Aside from Davao Cong. Paolo Duterte, Vice Pres. Sara Duterte herself reacted to the challenge for her to attend the impeachment trial if she allegedly wants to speed up the proceedings.
