The decision to impeach Vice President Sara Duterte at the House of Representatives did not come without standard process being followed and sufficient evidence being provided to deem probable cause, a lawmaker said.

During a press conference at the Senate on Tuesday, 21 July, House prosecutor Rep. Chel Diokno addressed criticisms from Davao Rep. Paolo “Pulong” Duterte on the process that was undertaken with regards to the impeachment of his younger sister.

Through a lengthy Facebook post, Pulong said that members of current House Prosecution Panel’s request for the issuance of subpoenas on tax records, bank accounts, and Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) reports of Sara indicated that lower house decided to impeach first and look for evidence later.

The lawmaker stressed that the development in the impeachment trial was a sign that the case against the Vice President was “lacking” when it came to substance.

“Impeachment is not a raffle draw. It’s not a fishing expedition where you’re at the mercy of whatever comes your way. If you’re serious about your case, your case should be complete from the start,” his statement read.

For Diokno, however, the continued “fishing expedition” narrative that the Dutertes have repeatedly raised was a matter that was being misconstrued and not placed in the proper context.

The Akbayan partylist representative explained that the reason that House prosecutors were seeking for the issuance of subpoenas for evidence from the impeachment court was due to the fact that the Constitution had only allowed the lower house to simply initiate impeachment and determine probable cause on the same.

On the other hand, he explained that the Senate in its capacity was prescribed under Philippine law with the ability to decide based on the Articles of Impeachment, in consideration of the full presentation of evidence from the prosecution and the defense.

“When the impeachment complaints were first handed to the Committee on Justice of the House of Representatives, the job of the committee was only to determine if there was probable cause,” he said.

“It is not our job to scour for evidence and to conduct a trial, because it is in the Senate where the trial will be conducted,” he added.

Diokno also mentioned that given the restrictions placed on the House Committee on Justice, it was only able to see a “portion of the evidence” as it pertains to the allegations against the Vice President.

The solon maintained that the Justice panel simply followed its mandate, reiterating his denial to the supposed “fishing expedition” narrative.

“There was nothing different in the process we conducted from that indicated in the Constitution,” Diokno explained.

“We believe and we repeatedly state that there was no fishing expedition, there was no shortcut,” he maintained.

Big step forward

On Monday, 20 July, the Senate impeachment court officially granted the request of the prosecutors concerning the formal request for the production of the Vice President and her husband Atty. Manases “Mans” Carpio’s financial documents.

The development came after a two day discussion on the matter wherein various arguments and questions were raised from both the defense and even senator-judges on the matter.

Given the objections, Diokno characterized the approval from the Senate as a “big step forward” as far as the second impeachment article concerning the unexplained wealth of Sara was concerned.

The solon also clarified that the issuance of subpoenas did not directly mean that any information that was gathered would be marked as evidence for the case, stressing that the same would only be carried out once the documents were produced by the 30 July deadline.

“Like we said yesterday, we are not at the point of discussing the admissibility of evidence,” he said.

“The only purpose of the request for subpoena was for the specified documents to be brought,” he added.

Diokno mentioned that the documents will officially be entered into evidence when the presentation on evidence concerning the impeachment article on unexplained wealth.