A House lawmaker maintained that the impeachment proceedings against Vice President Sara Duterte adhered to the Constitution and due process, countering claims made in a petition filed before the Supreme Court.
San Juan City Representative Ysabel Zamora, one of the prosecutors for the impeachment trial, dismissed allegations of grave abuse in handling the complaints, stating that lawmakers took time to assess and consolidate the three initial impeachment complaints before moving forward.
“There was no violation. It was actually the request of the Congressmen to look further into the complaints before it was moved to the Committee on Justice,” Zamora said in a GMA News Online report.
The Vice President’s legal team had questioned the timing of the House proceedings, arguing that the impeachment complaint violated the one-year ban. However, Zamora cited the Francisco v. House of Representatives ruling, explaining that the ban only applies once an endorsed complaint has been formally referred to the House Committee on Justice.
“The one-year ban had not set in… The Supreme Court will see that Congress adhered to the limits or the requirements stated in the Constitution and even in the rules of Congress,” she added.
Zamora also suggested that Duterte’s petition could be seen as an attempt to delay the process. “Everyone has the right to file petitions, but I think the Supreme Court will see through these and allow the political exercise of impeachment to proceed,” she said.
Meanwhile, Duterte’s lawyer, Sheila Sison, insisted that the House must not wield unchecked discretion in handling impeachment complaints. “The question we are respectfully asking the Supreme Court to decide is whether this is permitted,” Sison said.
Despite the legal challenge, the impeachment case is expected to proceed to trial in the Senate, with House prosecutors preparing their arguments.
