The impeachment proceedings weren't tailored to embarrass Vice President Sara Duterte, House Committee on Justice Chairperson Batangas 1st district Rep. Gerville "Jinky Bitrics" Luistro said on Monday, April 20.

“Sa lahat po rin sambayang Pilipino, ito pong aming ginagawang ito ay hindi pagpapahiya sa ating VP. Ito po’y bahagi ng impeachment process (To all the Filipino people, what we are doing here is not meant to shame our Vice President. This is part of the impeachment process)," Luistro told DZBB radio in an interview.

This "public shaming narrative" came out in the days following alleged Duterte "bagman" Ramil Madriaga's appearance in the April 14 justice panel hearing on the impeachment.

Suffice it to say that Madriaga--through his supplemental affidavit that he submitted to the panel--provided a lot of "ammunition" against the Vice President in public discourse.

But Luistro says that shaming the country’s second highest official "definitely...is not the intention".

"Kami po ay may trabahong i-determine kung may sapat na dahilan upang umusad ang impeachment process. Kaya kailangan po namin mag-conduct ng clarificatory hearing (Our task is to determine whether there is sufficient reason for the impeachment process to move forward. That is why we need to conduct a clarificatory hearing)," the lawyer-legislator explained.

The Batangueño underscored that the committee was holding such hearings because it was mandated to determine the existence of probable cause in the two active impeachment complaints against Duterte.

"In doing so, we are authorized to conduct this hearing proper/clarificatory hearing and in doing so as well we are authorized to exercise this compulsory process such as the issuance of subpoena duces tecum and subpoena ad testificandum,” she said.

If and when probable cause is determined, the panel will bring it to the plenary, where the matter will be debated. If the plenary concurs with the decision of the justice committee, it will effectively impeach the Vice President anew and transmit the articles of impeachment to the Senate, where an impeachment trial will await the respondent.

But if the committee finds the evidence wanting, it will dismiss the impeachment complaints at its level and elevate a recommendation to dismiss to the plenary.

“Kung i-affirm po nila ang dismissal eh ‘di final na po iyon. At kung i-reverse naman po nila kami, ibig sabihin mata-transmit pa rin po ito sa Senate for trial,” Luistro added.

(If they affirm the dismissal, then that is final. But if they reverse us, it means it will still be transmitted to the Senate for trial.)

Luistro says that impeachment is one of the constitutional checks available to the public against impeachable officials who may have committed offenses serious enough to justify removal and disqualification from public office.

“Ito po yung tinatawag nating accountability mechanism which is innate in a democratic form of government. Ang very famous na sabihin about democratic form of government is a government of the people, by the people and for the people. At ito po ang kapangyarihan ng taumbayan to check on this impeachable official if they committed impeachable offenses and if so, may kapangyarihan ang taong bayan tanggalin at ipagbawal ang patuloy na pagtanggap ng posisyon sa gobyerno."

(This is what we call the accountability mechanism, which is inherent in a democratic form of government. The very famous saying about democracy is that it is a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. And this is the power of the people to check on an impeachable official if they committed impeachable offenses, and if so, the people have the power to remove them and prohibit them from continuing to hold office in government.)

Vice President Duterte was impeached by the House of Representatives in 2025, but a Senate impeachment trial never took place. That particular impeachment case was ultimately dismissed by the Supreme Court (SC) due to a technicality.

In this regard, Tingog Party-list Rep. Jude Acidre said that this year's impeachment proceedings done strictly in accordance with constitutional requirements and SC guidance on due process.

"Kung iko-compare sa ibang, nakaraang mga procedure, similar proceedings, eto na siguro ‘yung by the book, talaga. Even the way we call it, like parang merong hearing proper, we’re very precise. Kung ano ang language ng rules ‘yun din ang sinusunod natin," he said in a statement, also on Monday.

(Compared to other past procedures, similar proceedings, this is probably the one that’s truly by the book. Even the way we call it, as if there is a proper hearing, we're very precise. Whatever the language of the rules is, that is exactly what we follow.)

Acidre said that the justice committee’s role at this stage was limited to determining probable cause based on evidence already submitted, including affidavits, testimonies and supporting documents.

He noted that the House learned from the previous impeachment attempt against the Vice President that was set aside due to procedural issues, and is now ensuring strict compliance with the rules.