By: Aliahcorr Balanon
Photo courtesy of Senate of the Philippines | Facebook
The House of Representatives may begin hearings on the impeachment complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte earlier than planned if she does not submit her comment within 10 days, set by the House justice committee.
The absence of comment would be taken as blanket denial, made this clear by the Committee Chairperson Rep. Gerville Luistro on Friday, Mar. 6.
“The legal implication of that is that it will be considered as a general denial. It is considered that the allegations contained in the complaint are denied by the respondent. That is in the event that she doesn't file an answer to the impeachment complaints,” Luistro said.
VP Duterte was given 10 calendar days or by Sunday, Mar. 15 to submit comments after the House justice committee declared the two impeachment complaints sufficient in substance immediately after voting on Thursday, Mar. 5.
The panel however, has agreed to receive her comment the following day, with Mar. 15 being a Sunday.
Failure of the Duterte camp to beat the Mar. 16 deadline would prompt the committee to proceed with the hearing on Mar. 17 or 18, ahead of the Apr. 8 original schedule.
“Somehow it will expedite the process because if there is no answer, there is no reason to file a reply. And if there is no reply, there is no reason to file a rejoinder,” Luistro said.
Once the affidavits and counter-affidavits are sworn before the justice committee, that is the time that will determine whether sufficient grounds support the impeachment complaint, after which the proceedings will move to the next step.
Oral testimony of the parties will be heard before the justice committee.
“We will still invite her. Even if she doesn't file a reply to the impeachment complaints, an invitation will still be issued to her for the purpose of her due process. This is the same interpretation as the answer. If she doesn't appear in the hearing, it will be interpreted as her waiver to be present during the hearing proper,” Batangas lawmaker said.
In a related development, VP Duterte said she directly confronted President Bongbong Marcos in November 2023 over what she claimed were efforts to remove her through impeachment.
Speaking on her online program “Ibalik ang Tapang at Malasakit,” Duterte said she asked Imee Marcos to accompany her when she sought a meeting with the president before his trip to the United States for the APEC Summit.
According to Duterte, she asked the president about reports of an impeachment plan in the House of Representatives.
She said Marcos denied that such a plan existed and told her that the government’s priority at the time was pushing for Charter change.
“If you remember, in November 2023, he left for the United States for APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation). Before he left, one day before, I called Sen. Imee Marcos. I told her to accompany me because I need to talk to BBM. I need to bring Sen. Imee because I’m not BBM’s friend. He’s just my colleague. He’s just the President for me,” VP Duterte said.
VP Duterte earlier stepped down as education secretary and vice chairperson of the government’s anti-insurgency task force in June 2024, after her relationship with the Marcos family turned sour.