A vice chairman of the House Committee on Justice has highlighted the "time-bound" nature of the impeachment proceedings against Vice President Sara Duterte.

This means it is incumbent upon the committee to see the proceedings through, despite the notion that it should stop in deference to the national energy emergency, says Bukidnon 2nd district Rep. Jonathan Keith Flores.

Flores, in a recent online interview, rejected calls to suspend the impeachment hearings amid the energy crisis linked to tensions in the Middle East. He said the Constitution itself imposed strict timelines on the House.

He says the chamber is time-bound in acting on impeachment cases, noting that the Supreme Court (SC) has previously ruled against the House for violating such timelines in the 2025 impeachment proceedings against Duterte.

“Kaya ngayon (Even now), if we say na, can we just set this aside because we’re in a crisis. We can’t, eh. Because the Constitution mandates that we have to deal with it,” Flores said.

The 2026 impeachment proceedings against the Vice President were formally initiated by the House of Representatives last Feb. 23. From there, the justice panel has 60 session days to determine the sufficiency in form, substance, and grounds of the filed complaints.

Within that period, the committee must be able to endorse its findings to the plenary, which would then vote whether or not to impeach Duterte and put her on trial before the Senate impeachment court.

Flores has also noted that only around 50 congressmen are currently involved in the justice committee hearings.

“There are 300 plus members [in the House of Representatives]. We’re just 50 something in the Committee on Justice and we just meet once a week lang, ‘di ba (right)? We do other things po other than just the impeachment. Ang dami po naming ginagawa (We're doing a lot of things),” Flores said.

In the same interview, Flores, a Mindanaonon, acknowledged the pushback in his home region as far as Duterte's impeachment was concerned. After all, the Vice President is from Davao City.

“It’s a very difficult position to be in,” the Bukidnon congressman said. Last year, Flores was picked to be part of the prosecution panel against Duterte, although the actual Senate impeachment trial didn't push through.

Now, he continues to play a big role in the proceedings.

“It’s not like I want to. It’s not like I volunteered to do it but it’s part of my duty as a member, as a vice chairperson of the Committee on Justice,” he said.

“It’s as if wala namang choice (there is no choice), it’s always vested in the House, the initiation of the impeachment. So, kung nandun ka (So if you're there), you have to be part of it. You cannot just run away from it.”