‘VP impeach complaint not likely to prosper’

MANILA, Philippines — The impeachment complaints filed against Vice President Sara Duterte are likely not to prosper in the 19th Congress due to lack of support from members of the House of Representatives.

House secretary general Reginald Velasco said that at present, only six House members have signified their support for the three impeachment complaints separately filed against Duterte by Akbayan, Makabayan and a group of lawyers and priests.

In an interview with Teleradyo Serbisyo, Velasco disclosed that the three impeachment complaints are still on hold in his office and have not been transmitted to the Office of the House Speaker as he is still waiting for the group of majority and minority congressmen who have indicated their intention to file a fourth impeachment complaint against Duterte.

“With the present support of six, nothing will happen to that. Even in the (House) committee on justice, before it can pass the scrutiny of the committee, it should get the support of a simple majority of its members,” Velasco said.

“Assuming that the members (of the committee on justice) are 30, it means that they should gather 16 before it can pass the committee on justice. So, it is difficult to get the vote of the House members in both the plenary and the committee on justice because it can be killed in the plenary once it is not supported by the simple majority,” he added.

The simple majority of the total of 308 House members is half, or 154 congressmen.

Velasco added that the three complaints so far filed against Duterte would undergo a difficult process without the support of the general membership of the lower House.

“We consulted the House leaders. They said that nothing will happen if the Speaker thinks that it will not prosper in the plenary. Their efforts will be useless. And it will just embarrass the House of Representatives,” Velasco said.

Even the six congressmen who endorsed the three impeachment complaints have admitted that they have not recruited additional endorsers, according to the House secretary general.

He said that another factor is the timeframe, which includes the remaining session days of the 19th Congress and the coming 90-day election campaign period, which will start in the second week of February.

“The thinking of the congressmen is that the election is coming. For instance, those running for national office, Feb. 12 will be the start of the national campaign. Those running for local positions, including congressmen, is March 12 if I am not mistaken. So, it’s just a few months,” Velasco said.

“So, I am sure that everybody at the House is starting to prepare for the official campaign for their reelection bid or the election of their successor,” he added.

“Nothing will happen and this will just die in the plenary or in the committee on justice or the committee on rules. They may also think that given the timeframe, the second week of the session now, there are only nine session days left in Congress. On Feb. 5, the session will officially end. Then Congress’ session will return after the elections, which is from June 2 to 16 or for only two weeks,” Velasco said.

“Two weeks is equivalent to six session days. So six plus nine session days, Congress will have 15 session days remaining until June. You know that each election time, the time of the congressmen are spent in the campaign,” he added.

For Velasco, rushing the impeachment complaints’ transmittal to the Speaker without the support of the general House membership is useless.

“Once the move to impeach is referred to the committee on justice, we will have to wait for one year before you can file another impeachment complaint on the same official. That is what is provided for in our rules. There is a one-year ban on filing a complaint for impeachment against the same official,” Velasco said.

‘Time is now’

For a legislator belonging to a progressive group, the time is now for lawmakers to work on impeaching Duterte.

At a rally organized by Bunyog-Pagkakaisa Party at the corner of EDSA and White Plains Avenue in Quezon City, across the People Power Monument, yesterday, Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Party-list Rep. France Castro called on the public to appeal to their respective lawmakers at the House to tackle the three impeachment complaints filed against the Vice President, grounded on reports of misappropriation of public funds, particularly the confidential and intelligence funds.

Castro pointed out that congressmen should listen to the voices of the people who voted for them.

“My challenge to the people is go to your elected congressmen because we need the strength of the people, the convincing power of the people,” she said.

Castro who is among the 66 candidates for senator in the May 12 midterm elections under the Makabayan group.

Once Duterte is impeached, other corrupt public officials would also be held accountable, according to Castro.

“Holding Sara Duterte accountable is not on schedule, if they want, impeachment will really happen,” Castro said.

The lawmaker spoke before members of Bunyog-Pagkakaisa Party, Magdalo Party and vloggers who mostly support Marcos.