MASADA flags possible AMLC, data privacy violations to House panel

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—The Masa Sara Duterte Alliance (MASADA) warned members of the House Committee on Justice that they may face criminal charges for violation of anti-money laundering and data privacy laws once they transmit the chopsuey articles of impeachment to the plenary session.

Benito Ranque, MASADA founding chairman, told the Daily Tribune that articles of impeachment may backfire since the supposed evidence obtained through a fishing expedition in trial was a product of what lawyers described as the fruit of the poisonous tree.

“Practically all members of House committee on Justice Rodrigues who voted on the articles of may face criminal charges in courts,” he said.

After initiating what it is called a “Chopsuey, recycled” impeachment complaint, the panel conducted a mini trial which is beyond its power.

“The panel members who voted to the articles of impeachment had acted as judges; and decided the guilt of Inday Sara,” it said.

MASADA said that the two impeachment complaints being deliberated by the House Committee on Justice were the same narratives as in the first impeachment complaint, which was declared by the Supreme Court void and in violation of the one-year ban.

The statement said the House Secretary General has transmitted all the impeachment complaints to the House Speaker, who in turn transmitted the complaint to the Committee on Rules and then to the Justice Committee.

It said the Committee on Justice was supposed to consolidate the four impeachment complaints, but the justice panel deliberated on the complaints separately and ruled that the first impeachment violated the one-year ban.

“The committee excluded the first complaint but deliberated the other complaints, making it like a chopsuey.”

He said when the first complaint was filed on Feb. 2, the countdown started, and while the other complaints were filed later with the same narratives but different endorsements, they were practically consolidated when the Committee on Rules transmitted them to the Justice Committee.

But the panel conducted a mini trial and voted that the complaint has probable cause.

Ranque reiterated that members of the House Committee on Justice have gone too far by acting as prosecutor, judge, and executioner in handling the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte.

“The house panel initiated a “Chopsuey, recycled” impeachment proceedings and conducted a mini trial which is beyond its power,” he said.