Puno: NUP held no talks with House on Duterte impeachment

House Deputy Speaker Ronaldo Puno on Tuesday debunked reports concerning the reported meetings between the National Unity Party (NUP) and the House Speaker or Majority Leader.

“Press reports regarding supposed meetings between the National Unity Party (NUP) and the Speaker or Majority Leader Sandro Marcos are not true,” stated the statement issued by Puno.

He said the NUP has not had any talks with the House leadership regarding impeachment, projects, or anything related to such, adding, “There are likewise no such talks being planned.”

Puno further stated, “Any position to be taken by the NUP on the impeachment will be arrived at only after a discussion among its members and after carefully evaluating the evidence presented. It will never be the result of any influence or pressure from anyone.”

On Monday, the NUP said they want the House of Representatives to submit to the Senate a "stronger" impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte—one preferably containing "new evidence" against her.

This was stated in the NUP statement issued Monday, 9 March, signed by Puno, the party chairman.

In the said statement, the NUP said, "Now that the House Committee on Justice has voted on the substance of the impeachment complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte, the NUP urges the Committee to present new evidence and a stronger case as the hearings proceed.”

"Impeachment is a serious constitutional process that must be anchored on clear, compelling, and credible evidence. In the absence of such evidence, it will be very difficult for members of the NUP to vote in favor of transmitting the impeachment complaints to the Senate for trial," it added, echoing an earlier statement last month.

Puno underscored: "The NUP does not want to send a weak case to the Senate only for it to be summarily dismissed."

He also said doing so would "only weaken the credibility of the impeachment process and diminish the gravity of this constitutional mechanism."

Puno also debunked claims that the NUP—the second-biggest political party in the House of Representatives in terms of membership—had softened its position on the Vice President’s impeachment.

"Contrary to some news reports, we have not walked back on our previous statements regarding this impeachment. Our position remains consistent. We reiterate that we cannot vote in favor of a rehashed case resting on previously presented information that, in our opinion, remain weak and inconclusive," he said.

Puno said they will closely observe the hearings and carefully evaluate the evidence that will be presented and hope the Committee will reveal stronger proof and, if warranted, the proverbial 'smoking gun' that would justify elevating the matter to the Senate.

The NUP and Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD) were viewed as the main drivers of the impeachment proceedings against Vice President Duterte last year under the previous 19th Congress.

The Supreme Court declared the 2025 case unconstitutional, although it was viewed as strong, due to a technicality.

On 25 February, the NUP first came out with a supposed party stand wherein it indicated that it won't support Duterte's impeachment unless "compelling new evidence" emerges in the hearings of the Committee on Justice.

The justice panel has declared two impeachment complaints against the Vice President as both sufficient in form and in substance.