Grave threats, impeachment separate proceedings — Fadullon
Fadullon reiterated that nothing bars the DoJ from prosecuting Duterte before the regular courts despite her status as an impeachable officer.
Fadullon reiterated that nothing bars the DoJ from prosecuting Duterte before the regular courts despite her status as an impeachable officer.
The criminal case against Vice President Sara Duterte before the Quezon City Regional Trial Court (QC RTC) is separate from the impeachment proceedings against her before the Senate, Prosecutor General Richard Anthony Fadullon said.
Fadullon said the Department of Justice (DoJ) would leave it to the court to determine how to dispose of the criminal case, including whether the charges could proceed despite Duterte being an impeachable officer.
“That’s why we leave it to the ruling of the court how it will dispose of the same, whether it believes that the charges can be sustained even if the accused in this case is an impeachable officer,” Fadullon said.
DoJ spokesperson Atty. Polo Martinez said the Senate, acting as the impeachment court, exercises its authority over the impeachment proceedings, while the criminal case remains under the jurisdiction of the regular courts.
"Procedurally speaking, the conduct of the criminal case in the QC RTC should not be affected by the ongoing impeachment proceedings. That applies vice versa to the ongoing impeachment trial,” Martinez said.
He said the two proceedings could proceed independently because they involved different evidence.
“As far as we know, procedurally, they can proceed with distinct and separate proceedings,” he said. “What happened in the impeachment proceeding is different from what was done in the trial.”
He said even the evidence presented during the preliminary investigation differed from that released during the impeachment proceedings.
Fadullon reiterated that nothing bars the DoJ from prosecuting Duterte before the regular courts despite her status as an impeachable officer.
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