Two impeach raps against VP Duterte sufficient in form

House Justice Committee Chair Rep. Gerville Luistro said on Monday that there are two remaining impeachment complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte after the first was set aside due to the bar rule and the second was withdrawn by its proponents.

The House panel stated, after suspending deliberations for three hours, that they found the third and fourth impeachment complaints against the Vice President compliant with the Supreme Court decision, which only allows the initiation of one impeachment proceeding against an official per year and requires at least one endorser from the ranks of the House members.

Ahead of finding these complaints sufficient in form, the House Justice panel decided to set aside the first impeachment complaint filed against the Vice President by the Makabayan coalition and allied groups last 2 February for being in violation of the one-year bar rule.

The first impeachment complaint alleges that the Vice President betrayed public trust due to the following acts: ordering subordinates to prepare implausible accomplishment reports supported by fabricated liquidation reports and falsified documents for submission to the Commission on Audit to support the use of confidential funds; and dereliction of official duty with her willful refusal to recognize congressional oversight during budget deliberations and its authority to conduct inquiries in aid of legislation.

These same allegations were present in the second, third, and fourth complaints.

Earlier in the day, Tindig Pilipinas also formally withdrew its second impeachment complaint filed against the Vice President last 2 February and decided to throw its support behind the third impeachment complaint.

Luistro said that with the two remaining impeachment complaints, their work will be faster as compared to when they started deliberations with four.

“Our work will be more faster since there are two remaining complaints compared when we started with four,” said Luistro.

Luistro explained the rigors of the decision of the panel to set aside the first complaint, which was questioned by the Makabayan bloc, who expressed dismay over the decision of the panel.