Articles of Impeachment vs. VP Duterte transmitted to Senate

MANILA, May 14 ------ The House of Representatives transmitted to the Senate on Wednesday night the Articles of Impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte, after the lower chamber voted to impeach her on Monday. The documents arrived at the Senate 7:22PM.

The articles, the official impeachment case that the House has endorsed against Duterte, were delivered by House Secretary General Cheloy Velicaria-Garafil and House Sergeant-at-Arms Ferdinand Melchor Dela Cruz. "The transmittal of the Articles of Impeachment marks the beginning of the next constitutional phase of the process, and the House Secretariat made sure that all records were complete and in proper order prior to submission," Garafil said. "The accuracy of our submission is our paramount concern," she added.

A copy of the transmittal letter signed by House Secretary General Cheloy Garafil showed it was received by the office of Senate Secretary Mark Llandro Mendoza at 7:22PM. In a 257-25-9 vote on Tuesday, the House supported the impeachment complaints against Duterte on the grounds of alleged misuse of confidential funds, unexplained wealth, and supposed assassination plot against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

This was more than the one-third, or 106 House members, that the Constitution requires for the articles of impeachment to be transmitted to the Senate for trial. The House also transmitted to the Senate the sealed box containing the documents from the Bureau of Internal Revenue on Duterte and her husband's tax records. In a separate letter, the House informed the office of Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano of the impeachment prosecutors elected by the lower chamber for Duterte’s impeachment trial. They are Representatives Gerville Luistro, Terry Ridon, Rodge Gutierrez, Ysabel Zamora, Lorenz Defensor, Chel Diokno, Leila de Lima, Kaka Bag-ao, Joel Chua, Jonathan Keith Flores, and Lordan Suan. The letter was received at 7:43 PM.

CHALLENGE

A House impeachment prosecutor considers the change in Senate leadership as a challenge in Duterte’s impeachment trial. "Ang pinaka-challenging para sa aming mga prosecutor, ang mga senador na bumoto para i-archive ang naunang impeachment complaint ng nakaraang taon ay nakaupo sa lideratong mga posisyon ng ating senado at napakihirap magkaroon ng isang impartial impeachment trial, if those who decided to archive it and not follow the rule of law will be the ones sitting," Iloilo 3rd District Representative Lorenz Defensor. But his fellow House impeachment prosecutor, Bicol Saro Party List Representative Terry Ridon has a different view. "We will still be dealing with the same set of senator judges and we will still be presenting the same set of evidence and documents to the Senate Impeachment Court. So I think we have great faith. That irrespective of the Senate leadership, irrespective of the Senate majority, we will still be able to convince Senator judges to convict the Vice President," he said.

'POLITICAL MANEUVER'

Earlier in the day, Senator Imee Marcos accused the House of delaying the transmittal of the articles. "Umaasa pa rin sila na sa loob ng isa o dalawang linggo, magpapalit muli ang liderato ng Senado," she said. "Eh hindi mangyayari 'yun. Matitibay kami." "This delay appears less like an administrative concern and more like a political maneuver to control the timing of the Senate proceedings," she added.

Alan Peter Cayetano replaced Vicente "Tito" Sotto III as Senate President on Monday, the same day that the House voted to impeach Duterte. Garafil had previously explained that they were making sure that each copy "is a faithful reproduction of what was approved by the House of Representatives," noting that the articles of impeachment "number in the thousands of pages."

Source: news.asb-cbn.com