Lanao del Sur 1st district Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong believes that incoming Mamamayang Liberal (ML) Party-list Rep. Leila de Lima's entry to the House prosecution team in Vice President Sara Duterte's upcoming impeachment trial is fair game.
This, as Adiong responded to the alleged "conflict" with De Lima's participation in the prosecution panel, given that the latter supposedly has beef with the Duterte family.
“Wala naman siyang conflict dahil ang sinasabi naman sa rules, sa aming rules, ay kailangan miyembro… kailangan miyembro ng House of Representatives (There is no conflict because the rules, the rules we follow, state that one must be a member... must be a member of the House of Representatives)," he said.
“So si Congressman Leila de Lima naman ay miyembro, magiging member ng House of Representatives sa 20th Congress (So Congressman Leila de Lima is a member, and she will be a member of the House of Representatives in the 20th Congress)," noted the Mindanaoan.
"Pangalawa, allowed naman din na kumuha ang House prosecution ng House of Representatives ng mga private lawyers (Second, the House prosecution of the House of Representatives is also allowed to hire private lawyers)," said Adiong, an assistant majority leader in the current 19th Congress.
De Lima, a former senator and Department of Justice (DOJ) secretary, punched her ticket to the 20th Congress after ML Party-list won during the May 12 mid-term elections.
Almost immediately, she was tapped by the House leadership to join the prosecution panel against Vice President Duterte, eldest daughter of former president Rodrigo Duterte.
Some say De Lima has no love lost for the Dutertes. It was on Feb. 24, 2017 or eight months into then-president Duterte's term that she was jailed for illegal drugs charges.
To a degree, De Lima served as poster girl of the previous Duterte administration's anti-illegal drug campaign.
She has since been acquitted of the charges and on Nov. 13, 2023 was released from prison.