Vice President Sara Duterte attends House probe into OVP, DepEd’s confidential funds. (Noy Morcoso/ INQUIRER.net file photo)
MANILA, Philippines — The proceedings for the impeachment complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte are facing time constraints, Bukidnon 2nd District Representative Jonathan Keith Flores said on Friday.
According to Flores, the 10-day period given to Duterte to file an answer will take so long that there should already be movements with the proceedings.
Article continues after this advertisement“Dito maging challenging ang timeline if it goes to the Committee on Justice. Kasi after it’s referred to the Committee on Justice, after that determination kung may sufficiency in form ba, yung sa substance kasi, we will be requiring the respondent to file an answer and it’s a 10-day period that is going to be given to them,” Flores said in an online interview with reporters.
FEATURED STORIES NEWSINFO INC rallies in support of Marcos stand against VP Duterte impeach moves NEWSINFO Trump going berserk, targets birthright, naturalized citizens NEWSINFO American vlogger died during abduction – PNP(The timeline will be challenging if it goes to the Committee on Justice. Because after it is referred to the Committee on Justice, after the determination if there is sufficiency in form, we will be requiring the respondent to file an answer and it’s a 10-day period that is going to be given to them.)
When asked if the complaints should already be referred to the Office of the Speaker by next week, Flores said that the tight schedule can hinder the proceedings.
Article continues after this advertisement“So kung walang movement ‘yan, doon pa lang sa referral, I think wala, slim na ‘yung chances na magpo-proceed pa itong impeachment,” Flores added.
Article continues after this advertisement(So if there is no movement in the referral, I think the chances of it proceeding to impeachment are slim.)
Article continues after this advertisementFlores also shared that they just found out about the second impeachment complaint filed against Duterte and they haven’t made any preparations.
Meanwhile, Batangas 2nd District Representative Jinky Luistro said that they have to wait until the impeachment complaints are included in their business calendar.
Article continues after this advertisement“I do not have any information yet whether it will be included this coming Monday. Kasi pag na-include ito sa calendar of business, dun pa sa plenary ito during the first reading mare-refer sa Committee on Justice (Because if this is included in the calendar of business, this will be referred to the Committee on Justice during the first reading on the plenary) ,” Luistro said in a separate online interview with reporters.
Former ACT Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio previously said that the impeachment process needs one-third of votes from all the members of the House of Representatives, or 103 out of 307 lawmakers.
Representatives from civil society organizations filed two impeachment complaints against Duterte, which were endorsed by Akbayan Rep. Percival Cendaña and Makabayan bloc lawmakers Rep. France Castro, Rep. Arlene Brosas, and Rep. Raoul Manuel.
The complaints stemmed from grounds such as betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the Constitution, graft and corruption, bribery, among others.
Previous House hearings had been probing the alleged misuse of the confidential funds of the Office of the Vice President (OVP).
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A House probe found out that the OVP and the Department of Education submitted about 4astigbet,500 acknowledgement receipts to the Commission on Audit to explain how they used the P612.5 million of confidential funds.
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