Umakyat na sa plenaryo ng Kamara ang impeachment case laban kay Vice President Sara Duterte matapos aprubahan ng House Committee on Justice ang committee report, resolution, at Articles of Impeachment sa botong 55-0.
Idineklara ni House Committee on Justice Chair Gerville “Jinky Bitrics” Luistro ng Batangas na unanimous ang approval ng panel.
“Let it be placed on the record that 55, out of 55 Justice members physically present, manifested their support to the approval of the Committee Report, to the attached resolution setting forth the Articles of Impeachment, as amended. The Chair therefore declares the motion unanimously approved,” ani Luistro.
Kinonsolida ng report ang Saballa at Cabrera complaints at inilatag ang grounds na culpable violation of the Constitution, bribery, graft and corruption, other high crimes, at betrayal of public trust.
Nagsimula ang proseso sa apat na complaints noong early February, kabilang ang inihain nina Francisca “France” Castro at Francis Joseph Aquino Dee, at ang kalaunang complaints nina Joel Saballa at Atty. Nathaniel Cabrera. Tinanggap ng komite ang withdrawal ng isang complaint at isinantabi ang isa pa dahil sa one-year bar rule. Itinuloy ang Saballa at Cabrera complaints, na napatunayang sufficient in form at sufficient in substance sa botong 54-1.
Noong March 16, nagsumite si Duterte ng “Consolidated Verified Answer Ad Cautelam.” Nag-waive ng right to reply ang complainants. Noong March 18, unanimous na nakita ng komite ang sufficient grounds for impeachment.
Ayon kay Mamamayang Liberal Party-list Rep. Leila de Lima, apat na Articles of Impeachment ang inaprubahan ng komite, pero sakop pa rin ang lahat ng grounds laban kay Duterte.
“Number one, misuse or abuse of confidential funds. Pangalawa, unexplained wealth,” ani de Lima.
“Several subheadings po yan, pinagdagdag po nga ako tungkol sa failure to divest her interest in business,” dagdag niya.
“And then ang pangatlo po yung bribery and graft and corruption, sa DepEd and then pang apat po yung threats ni plot to assassinate the President, the First Lady and the House Speaker,” sabi pa ni de Lima.
Sinabi ni de Lima na idinagdag ang failure to divest business interest sa Article 2 matapos lumabas sa SEC records ang Metro Chow company o corporation kung saan umano nananatili si Duterte bilang shareholder at board director.
“And then ‘yung pinadagdag din na substantive correction po tungkol po doon sa failure to divest her business interest sa isang company kasi sa Constitution po malinaw po iyan na kapag naka upo ka as President, Vice President, Cabinet Members, etc. ay kailangan wala kang participation in any business,” ani de Lima.
Giit niya, kahit isang article lang ang ma-uphold sa Senate, sapat na para maalis at permanenteng ma-disqualify si Duterte sa public office.
“Kahit isa lang, correct,” ani de Lima.
“Pag makarating na po ito sa Senado at magkaroon na po ng trial at during the judgment ng mga judges of the impeachment court kahit isa lang pong article ang ma-uphold nila at ma-convict si VP Sara, that should be enough to really convict her and then to remove her from office and to permanently disqualify her to hold further public office,” dagdag niya.
Para kay Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon, abot-kamay na ang 106 votes na kailangan sa plenaryo.
“We’re expecting the VP to be impeached next week. So yung 106 is all but certain,” ani Ridon.
“Tapos na ho yung botohan sa committee. We will go to the plenary this week,” dagdag niya.
Ayon kay Ridon, may 55 hanggang 56 votes na mula sa committee proceedings pa lamang.
“Well, I can speak for today. So I guess meron kami 55 votes to impeach the VP,” sabi niya.
“So the next half of 106 is not going to be difficult to surmount. We will have the numbers by next week,” dagdag niya.
Kasama sa committee record ang COA audit findings, AMLC financial data, testimonies ng officials at witnesses, forensic document examiners, at government auditors. Tinukoy din sa report ang alleged misuse at irregular liquidation ng hindi bababa sa P500 million confidential funds sa Office of the Vice President at P112.5 million sa Department of Education.
Sinagot din ni Ridon ang claim mula sa kampo ni lawyer Manases Carpio, asawa ni VP Sara, tungkol sa umano’y BPI correction kung saan ang P2-billion transaction ay P2 million lamang.
“Bakit hindi namin sinama? Eh nakalagay nga sa report ‘yon. The report is there for everyone to see. But again, ang sabi pa rin ho ng AMLC in their summary list, it is still P6.7billion,” ani Ridon.
“And even assuming it became P2 million from P2 billion, it is still in the billions. It doesn’t change the fact that the total transactions are still in the billions. It doesn’t change the fact that the inflows are still in the billions,” dagdag niya.
Ayon kay Ridon, ipinakita ng AMLC report ang P6.77 billion in covered and suspicious transactions ng Vice President at kanyang asawa sa loob ng 20 taon. Binanggit din niya ang P4.4 billion in inflows, P1.55 billion in outflows, at P2.8 billion na supposed balance na hindi umano reflected sa SALNs. Sa SALNs mula 2019 hanggang 2024, blanko umano ang spaces para sa “cash on hand or in bank.”
“And ultimately who are these personalities? Public servant? Lawyers? Losing businesses? Paano ipapaliwanag ang P6.7 billion in total transactions, P4.4 billion in net inflows? Hindi ho ganyan yung profile ng mag-asawang mga abogado,” ani Ridon.
Kapag nakakuha ng hindi bababa sa one-third vote ng House plenary, ipapadala ang Articles of Impeachment sa Senate para sa trial. /Bistado