VP Duterte in 'panic mode', says House impeachment prosecutor
At A Glance
- Ako-Bicol Party-list Rep. Jil Bongalon believes that the camp of the impeached Vice President Sara Duterte has pushed the panic button.
Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Jil Bongalon (left), Vice President Sara Duterte (Facebook)
A member of 11-member House prosecution panel believes that the camp of the impeached Vice President Sara Duterte has pushed the panic button.
Exhibit A, according to Ako-Bicol Party-list Rep. Jil Bongalon, is the filing of a petition to block the Vice President's upcoming Senate impeachment trial, which will determine whether or not she gets removed from her seat.
Bongalon said he can tell what's going on within the Vice President’s camp "even without reading the petition".
"We can assure the public that it can only mean two things: it’s purely a publicity stunt or unmistakable proof that the camp of the Vice President is on panic mode," he said.
“It’s panic mode now for VP Duterte,” Bongalon added.
“The Constitution sets clear and basic requirements for an impeachment complaint to move forward: it must be filed by at least one-third of the House of Representatives, verified, have the votes of each member recorded, and cannot be initiated more than once within a one-year period,” he explained.
The House prosecutor underscored that impeachment is a political process, not a judicial one. The Senate impeachment court is merely a quasi-judicial body.
“There is a reason for this. As ordained in the Constitution, impeachment is an act of political justice and an exception to the judiciary’s monopoly on deciding cases. Impeachment is purely a political exercise,” Bongalon said.
He accused Duterte’s camp of resorting to delaying tactics to prevent the Senate from holding a trial where evidence against her would be publicly scrutinized.
“In their utter desperation, the Vice President’s camp is throwing the proverbial kitchen sink to stop the inevitable— for the Senate to commence trial and for the public to finally see the overwhelming and damning evidence against her,” he said.
“We challenge the Vice President’s camp to stop these stunts and face us in trial. The Filipino people deserve no less,” Bongalon said.