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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider 'Habang may buhay': House exec says VP Duterte impeachment raps not dead

'Habang may buhay': House exec says VP Duterte impeachment raps not dead

Published Feb 3, 2025 03:13 am

At A Glance

  • House Secretary General Reginald Velasco refuses to say that the impeachment complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte were dead in the water, even with Congress entering its final week before going on a lenghy four-month recess. 

20250203_111149.jpgHouse Secretary General Reginald Velasco (left), Vice President Sara Duterte (PPAB)

House Secretary General Reginald Velasco refuses to say that the impeachment complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte were dead in the water, even with Congress entering its final week before going on a lenghy four-month recess.

"Hindi naman [patay]. Kanta nga habang may buhay... (It's not dead yet. There's a song that goes habang may buhay [while there is life...])," Velasco told House reporters Monday morning, Feb. 3 on the sidelines of the flag-raising ceremony.

According to the House official, the impeachment raps can't be dead because congressmen can always fast track it with the one-third rule.

"Any time, one-third of the [House] members can endorse it, can sign a complaint in my presence and then diretso yun sa Senate hindi na daadan sa [House] Committee on Justice (it will go straight to the Senate and no longer go through the House Committee on Justice)," Velasco said.

One-third of the current sitting House members is 102.

There are three impeachment complaints filed against Vice President Duterte. All three were filed in December 2024.

Including Monday, there are only two session days left (Tuesday and Wednesday) before the House and the Senate go on break in preparation for the May 12 mid-term elections. The solons won't reconvene until June 2.

In the interview, the reporters somewhat took Velasco to task for supposedly not acting on the filed complaints, which remained in his possession.

House rules say that the secretary general must transmit the complaints to the Office of the Speaker. The Speaker would then forward the documents to the Committee on Rules for referral.

No 'dribbling'

Traditionally, it's the Committee on Justice that holds hearings on the impeachment raps in order to determine whether or not they are sufficient in form and in substance. But none of these have happened yet, and time is running out in the current 19th Congress.

"We have to act on this week. We will act on it this week," Velasco said.

The main reason for the delay according to Velasco has been the rumoured fourth complaint to be endorsed by majority congressmen. This rumor has been circulation for over a month now.

The idea was to wait for the filing of the fourth complaint so that all impeachment raps could be sent to the Speaker’s office in one go.

"I think we have given them enough time so we will have to transmit the impeachment complaints within this week," the secretary general told the journalists.

Velasco denied allegations that he had been purposely "dribbling" or holding up the impeachment process.

"Well, I don't know how to dribble," he said.

So far, only minority congressmen have endorsed the existing impeachment complaints.

Related Tags

Impeachment Sara Duterte reginald velasco
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