Daven Tamayo

House prosecution may raise before impeachment court VP Duterte’s ‘bending the law’ remark

Article (news)

Vivienne Gulla

ABS-CBN News

MANILA — The House prosecution may raise before Senate impeachment court Vice President Sara Duterte’s claim that “bending the law is very clear in the impeachment proceedings” against her, and the edited video posted on Senator-Judge Pia Cayetano’s Facebook page that implied the prosecution is engaged in a &quot;fishing expedition&quot;.House Impeachment Prosecutor Rep. Terry Ridon said these should also be considered when the court issues guidelines on public engagement of parties involved in Duterte’s impeachment trial.“It is something that we may raise whether during oral arguments in open court or as a written manifestation… Mas mabigat ‘yung questioning the integrity of the court that had been stated by the Vice President at… siyempre sa senator-judges, totoo naman may napinsala naman po talagang House Prosecutor, ‘di ba, when a spliced video of him speaking was released… So I think if it something that the Senate impeachment court would really want to undertake itong mga providing guidelines on how the court, the parties should engage with the public. Dapat all of these particular details should be incorporated in the guidelines itself. Kasi hindi naman uubra na yung reklamo lang po ng depensa, yung magiging batayan dito sa guidelines na ito,” he said.“Sa ngayon ang nakikita pa lang po namin ay bending the law at yung pagli-liquidate nila ng confidential fund. So other than that wala na po tayong nakikita na bending the law,” House Impeachment Prosecutor Rep. Joel Chua added.House Prosecution spokesperson Rep. Zia Adiong, for his part, stressed that the application of the rules on impeachment should be “universal”.“Ang VP sabi niya may bending of the rule. Ito sa aming palagay ay… insulto sa integrity ng impeachment court. Pero wala po tayong naririninig na kung paano po at least ma-admonish ang defense panel para pagsabihan ang respondent na huwag niya insultuhin or huwag niyang magbibigay ng any statement that would weaken the integrity of the impeachment court,” he said.“Sa mga nakaraang weeks, may senator-judges po na nagpo-post din ng spliced videos na ito’y nagpapakita ng hindi tamang konteksto during the oral arguments. Kung nais po natin na iwasan po natin ma-violate ‘yung sub judice rule, ay sana hindi lang po ito ma-impose lang po sa isang particular na panel tulad po sa prosecution or sa depensa. Pero sana rin po ay matalima strictly ang ating mga huwes… ‘Yung ganoong klaseng sistema sana maging universal ‘yung application at tatalima po ang buong korte, not just the prosecution panel, the defense but as well as our sitting senator judges,” Adiong added.They issued the statement after Senate Impeachment Court Presiding Officer Sen. Francis Escudero announced during the trial on Wednesday that he was “in the process of drafting a ruling, a warning, and an order” pertaining to “violations” of impeachment rules. He said there are those who “have been commenting on social media”, which are in violation of Rule 18, prohibiting participants from making comments about the case’s merits.The prosecution does not feel alluded to, according to Ridon, saying their statements comply with the rules on impeachment trial.“As far as we are concerned, I think we had maintained ‘yun pong pagtalima doon po sa mga limits that is imposed by the current rules of the Senate Impeachment Court,” he asserted.“We don’t feel alluded to.. mayroon ho talaga mga fighting words, di ba, both parties dito sa proceedings po na ito. I don&#x27;t think if you have fighting words it would mean that you are actually violating the rules. So tingin ko that is well within the right of whichever party to describe how the proceedings had been done in the last couple of days… If there will be guidelines that will be imposed, we will comply with what the Senate impeachment court will state,” Ridon added.He warned that imposing “restrictions” on explaining the trial developments to the public “does not serve public interest”.“The further you restrict official communications by the defense, the prosecution, and the court itself, diyan po nagkakaroon ng vacuum for disinformation, misinformation, fake news ng mga other malign actors,” Ridon said.“Each and every press briefing, ambush, and social media posts that are being undertaken by House prosecutors and the private prosecutors are within the realm of informing the public, making it understandable to them. Mahalaga po na hindi po ito sasagka doon sa kahalagahan para maunawaan ng publiko ‘yung pangaraw-araw po na takbo ng impeachment trial na mayroon po tayo…It does not serve the interest of the public pagkakaroon ng further restrictions on trying to explain to the public yun pong pagtakbo ng mga proceedings po na ito,” he added.Chua shared this view, as he called for “flexibility” on the rule about parties making public statements.“Sana bigyan natin ng konting flexibility ng luwag, dahil ito nga ay impeachment case… tinitignan ang fitness niya na magsilbi sa taong bayan… Kung hindi naman namin mapapaliwanag nang maayos sa ating mga kababayan, baka hindi rin nila maunawaan kung ano talaga ang nangyayari sa loob po ng impeachment court,” he said.“Usong-uso ‘yung fake news, yun po ‘yung nilalabanan namin dito nang sa ganoon, mas maunawaan ng taumbayan kung ano talaga ang nangyari,&quot; Chua added.Still, the prosecution said that they will comply with the Impeachment Court’s ruling.“Kung ano ‘yung magiging direktiba ng Impeachment Court, very consistent ang stand ng House Prosecution Panel, tatalima po sila, ire-respeto po nila at mag-a-adjust po ang House Prosecution Panel in compliance kung ano po ‘yung magiging direktiba ng Impeachment Court,” Adiong sid.“If we will be restricted to speaking before the public outside of court, we will probably be constrained to raise it during impeachment tria itself. Ganoon ang magiging recourse. We will make it our forum,” Ridon noted.<div> </div><div>SELECTIVE ATTENDANCE?</div>Ridon also criticized the Vice President’s failure to physically show up in the impeachment proceedings, when she accompanied her brother Rep. Paolo Duterte in the court proceedings for the alleged grave threats complaint he is facing over a gastropub incident in Davao City.“Kung mayroon ho siyang righteous indignation dito po sa proceedings na ginaganap laban sa kanya, she should be there to look at the prosecutors in the eye, na “mga sinungaling kayo lahat, walang batayan ang kaso ninyo”. But she hasn&#x27;t done it,” the House Impeachment Prosecutor said. “Mayroon pong selective attendance ‘yun pong pangalawang Pangulo… I think the more important proceeding for her would be her own grave threats proceeding at the Senate Impeachment Court,” he added.Amid the separate grave threats complaints against the two Dutertes, Ridon and Adiong issued this question.“It is interesting na may kinakaharap na grave threats issue ang pangalawang Pangulo at may kinakaharap na grave threats issue ang kanya kapatid. So parang like brother, like sister po ito… And the question of the nation is does it actually run in the family?” Ridon said.“Bakit puro na lang violence-related ang mga issues na kinakaharap nila?” Adiong said.<div> </div><div>&#x27;NO IMMUNITY FROM SUIT&#x27;</div>Chua believes the Vice President has no immunity from suit, unlike the President.He issued the statement after Duterte’s counsel for the NBI grave threats case said “If a sitting Vice President may be indicted and prosecuted, then other incumbent impeachable officers such as the Ombudsman, members of the Constitutional Commissions, Supreme Court Justices, and even the President, may also be indicted and prosecuted.”“’Yung sa presidente kasi may specific provision talaga, may presidential immunity, unlike doon sa vice president. Siguro, mas maganda, antayin na lang natin na yung proper forum ang mag-resolba niyan,” Chua explained.Ridon also questioned the argument.“Ano ibig niyang sabihin? Pwede siyang may saksakin ngayon, tapos walang accountability ‘yun pong Pangalawang Pangulo? ‘Yun ‘yung basic logic po ng question eh, at ng kanila po mga posisyon d’yan eh… Ibig sabihin, gagawa na lang ng kung anumang krimen… at ‘yan ‘yung sasabihin mo... My answer to that is, yes, they will be charged pagka mayroon silang aktwal na ginawang krimen, even during the course of their term,” he said.

The House prosecution may raise before Senate impeachment court Vice President Sara Duterte’s claim that “bending the law is very clear in the impeachment proceedings” against her, and the edited video posted on Senator-Judge Pia Cayetano’s Facebook page.

The House prosecution may raise before Senate impeachment court Vice President Sara Duterte’s claim that “bending the law is very clear in the impeachment proceedings” against her, and the edited video posted on Senator-Judge Pia Cayetano’s Facebook page.