Amid the SC Petition of the Duterte Camp, House Panel Continues Hearing
HOUSE PANEL – The House Justice Committee is set to issue a subpoena against former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV to compel him to attend the next impeachment hearing of Vice President Sara Duterte.
Vice Pres. Sara Duterte previously filed for a petition before the Supreme Court as she sought for a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) against the proceedings of the House Justice Committee on the impeachment complaints filed against her. Two (2) impeachment raps were found sufficient in substance, form, and grounds.
The Supreme Court ordered the House Committee on Justice to answer to the petition filed by the Vice President. No TRO was released by the high court.
With the absence of a TRO, House Speaker Bojie Dy stressed then that the impeachment proceedings of Vice Pres. Sara Duterte will push through. Prior to it, the House panel handling the matter has already set schedules for the hearings.
Several grounds were raised against Vice Pres. Duterte in the impeachment complaints filed against her. In the third impeachment rap which also gained the support of Tindig Pilipinas, the group that filed and withdrew the second impeachment complaint against the Vice President, the following grounds were raised:
- 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
Vice Pres. Sara Duterte skipped the first impeachment hearing set by the House panel. The second impeachment hearing was held yesterday and Vice Pres. Sara Duterte’s lawyer, Atty. Michael Poa, appeared at the impeachment hearing.
“I was under compulsory process. That is without prejudice to the defenses of the Vice President,” the Spokesperson of the Duterte legal team said.
The next impeachment hearing of Vice Pres. Sara Duterte is set on April 22. Based on News5, former Sen. Antonio Trillanes will be issued a subpoena to attend the next impeachment hearing.
Former Sen. Antonio Trillanes is one of the staunch critics of the Dutertes. Based on the post, another staunch critic of the Duterte administration, Mamamayang Liberal Party-list Representative Leila de Lima, filed a motion before the House panel to issue a subpoena ad testificandum and subpoena duces tecum to the former Senator to compel him to attend the next impeachment hearing.
Trillanes is required by the House panel to submit documents regarding the alleged unexplained wealth and non-disclosure of assets of Vice Pres. Sara Duterte. Amid the Duterte questioning the constitutionality of the impeachment proceedings, the House panel defended the impeachment proceeds of Vice Pres. Sara Duterte.
