One of the co-chairmen of the House quad-committee (quad-comm) said it was "deeply inappropriate" for the Senate to assail the House of Representatives over Vice President Sara Duterte's impeachment case.

Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon gave this reaction Friday, Aug. 8 to the speeches of certain senators as they voted to archive the House-initiated impeachment complaint against the second-highest official of the land.

Ridon noted how some senators attacked the House's integrity and motives in pursuing an impeachment trial against Vice President Duterte during their speeches in plenary.

“Ang ating pagkakaalam, ito ay dapat pagpapaliwanag ng mga boto kung bakit kailangan i-archive o bakit hindi dapat i-archive itong impeachment proceedings laban kay Vice President Sara Duterte. Pero malaking bahagi po ng mga talumpati ay tungkol po sa pagtingin o kuro-kuro ng ilang senador, ng liderato ng Senado laban po sa liderato ng House of Representatives,” he said.

(As we understand it, this should be an explanation of the votes, why the impeachment proceedings against Vice President Sara Duterte should be archived or why they should not be archived. But a large part of the speeches focused on the views or opinions of some senators, of the Senate leadership, against the leadership of the House of Representatives.)

Still, the chairman of the Committee on Public Accounts--one of the four panels comprising the quad-comm--said the principle of interparliamentary courtesy between the Hoose and the Senate was broken.

“Ibig sabihin wala pong pakialam ‘yun pong Senado sa internal affairs ng House of Representatives. In the same manner na wala pong pakialam ang House of Representatives sa mga internal affairs ng Senado. Ito po ‘yung prinsipyo ng inter-parliamentary courtesy,” he said.

(This means that the Senate has no concern over the internal affairs of the House of Representatives. In the same manner, the House of Representatives has no concern over the internal affairs of the Senate. This is the principle of inter-parliamentary courtesy.)

“Malaking pagbasag po [sa inter-parliamentary courtesy] ‘yung ilan sa mga talumpati dahil may binabanggit na masasakit na mga salita at pagpapangalan. Ibig sabihin name-calling laban po sa liderato ng House,” underscored Ridon.

(There was a major breach [of inter-parliamentary courtesy] in some of the speeches because they included hurtful words and name-calling. That means name-calling directed at the leadership of the House.)

Ridon also reiterated that the impeachment case was not about political affiliations or personalities, but about accountability and the rule of law.

“Ito po ay usapin ng accountability sa usapin po ng paggamit ng confidential funds. Usapin po ito ng accountability sa usapin ng pagbabanta laban sa Pangulo ng Pilipinas, sa First Lady at sa atin pong House Speaker,” he added.

(This is a matter of accountability regarding the use of confidential funds. It is a matter of accountability concerning threats against the President of the Philippines, the First Lady, and our House Speaker.)

Ridon was referring to the core allegations in the complaint against Vice President Duterte, which involve the alleged misuse of P612.5 million in confidential funds and threats made against President Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez.

He added that the House will continue to uphold its constitutional mandate to initiate impeachment proceedings, regardless of who is in power.