House within timetable on Sara impeachment raps — Defensor

HOUSE Senior Deputy Majority Leader Lorenz Defensor of Iloilo said the House of Representatives of the Philippines remains within the constitutional timetable to process three impeachment complaints filed against Sara Duterte.

The statement came amid questions on why the complaints — two filed on 2 February and a third on 9 February — remain with the Office of the Speaker and have yet to be referred to the Committee on Justice.

Defensor clarified that under House procedure, referral can only take place after the complaints are formally included in the Order of Business.

“There will be referral at maisama ito sa Order of Business. The Committee on Rules has to wait for it to be included in the Order of Business before we can refer it to the Committee on Justice,” Defensor said.

“Sa ngayon, hanggang dun lang muna kami and we have to wait for the action of the Speaker’s office,” he added.

Under Article XI, Section 3 of the Constitution, impeachment complaints must be included in the Order of Business within 10 session days from filing and referred to the appropriate committee within three session days thereafter.

Defensor said the reckoning is based on session days, not calendar days.

“As long as we follow the decision [of the Supreme Court] that the counting of the days would be session days in terms of being a calendar day, pasok naman lahat,” Defensor said.

“I can’t count. Pero the last day would be, I think if we are going to include all the three complaints, it will be March 2,” Defensor said.

Members of the Makabayan bloc, in their first complaint, allege betrayal of public trust over the supposed abuse of P612.5 million in confidential funds, submission of allegedly fabricated reports to the Commission on Audit, and refusal to recognize congressional oversight.

The second complaint, filed by civil society groups led by Francis Joseph Aquino Dee, lists five articles of impeachment, including constitutional violations, graft and corruption, bribery and unexplained wealth, gross abuse of power, and tolerating extrajudicial killings.

The third complaint, filed by priests, nuns and lawyers, accuses Duterte of misusing about P612 million in confidential funds and corrupting Department of Education officials. It also revives allegations that she threatened Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos, and former Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez.

Defensor said the Committee on Rules will act once the complaints are included in the Order of Business.

“At si-siguraduhin naman namin sa Committee on Rules na walang delay ito para hindi masabing may bias ang Committee on Rules,” Defensor said.

The solon added, “And as you have seen with the previous impeachments, we have been fair and we have been very objective about it and we will continue to do the same when it comes to the Vice President’s impeachment complaints.”