Sara Duterte impeachment case moves forward in House

The House Committee on Justice on Wednesday declared that the third and fourth impeachment complaints filed against Vice President Sara Duterte are sufficient in grounds.

Because of this, the committee scheduled the impeachment hearings on March 25, April 14, 22, and 29, where witnesses and evidence against Duterte will be presented.

During the committee meeting on Wednesday, panel chairperson Atty. Gerville “Jinky Bitrics” Luistro of Batangasapproved the motion on the two impeachment complaints after no objections were raised.

House Senior Deputy Majority Leader Lorenz Defensor of Iloilo moved to declare the third impeachment complaint sufficient in grounds, while Deputy Speaker Janette L. Garin of Iloilo made the motion for the fourth impeachment complaint.

“At this point, Hon. Members of the Justice Committee, we declare the conclusion of the determination of sufficiency in grounds,” Luistro said.

With the completion of the third step of the impeachment process, Luistro said the committee will now proceed to the hearing proper, where evidence and witnesses will be presented as part of determining probable cause.

“Now, we proceed to Step 4, that is the hearing proper,” Luistro said, adding that “the evidence and witnesses which will be presented by both parties during the hearing proper will be part of our consideration in the determination of probable cause in our Step 5.”

Luistro also informed the panel that it had received authorization from the House plenary to conduct hearings even while Congress is on recess from March 21 to May 3.

“This is the authority that was given by the plenary, the House of Representatives, to the Justice Committee to be able to conduct hearings during our break,” the chairperson said.

The authorization also includes the implementation of protective measures for complainants and witnesses, in accordance with Section 8 of the Rules of Procedure in Impeachment Proceedings.

Luistro also mentioned that the committee received a March 5 letter from Akbayan Party-list Rep. Chel Diokno, requesting the issuance of a subpoena duces tecum for certain documents.