The prosecution team of the House of Representatives formally asked the Senate impeachment court to proceed with the trial of Vice-president Sara Duterte-Carpio even as Senate President Francis Escudero floated the possibility of dismissing the case.
“A trial is not only warranted but necessary to reinforce justice, uphold democratic principles, and affirm that no individual — regardless of rank or influence — stands above the law,” stressed the House prosecution team in its reply to Duterte-Carpio’s Answer Ad Cautelam to the Articles of Impeachment that were signed by at least 215 congressmen last February.
This developed as the head of the Upper House broadly hinted last week that lawyers of Duterte-Carpio can move for the dismissal of the case.
Escudero noted that, based on the Answer Ad Cautelam, the VP is seeking to dismiss the impeachment complaint for being illegal as it violates the constitutional one-year ban limiting the filing of one impeachment complaint against an impeachable official per year.
“Dahil collegial body ang Senado bilang impeachment court, kapag kami nag-motion at may nag-object, ano bang gagawin? Pagbobotohan,” Escudero said. “Always by simple majority. Ang hindi lamang required ng simple majority (kasi) two-thirds ang kailangan kapag magbobotohan, iyong to acquit or convict (an impeachable official under trial).”
(The Senate is a collegial body and as an impeachment court, when a motion is put forward, what do we do? We vote on it. The only case when a simple majority is not required is on deciding whether to convict or acquit the impeachable official, which requires two-thirds.)
But House prosecutors said the VP’s call for the dismissal of the case without holding a trial should be rejected. It observed that Duterte’s Answer Ad Cautelam contained “no prayer of acquittal… only a dismissal of the case.”
“It is obvious from a simple reading of the Answer Ad Cautelam — which relies on misleading claims and baseless procedural objections — that the only legal strategy of the defense is to have the case dismissed and avoid trial,” the House prosecution panel said in the reply signed by Rep. Marcelino Libanan, the lead prosecutor from the House.
“The Filipino people have a fundamental right to witness this process unfold. No bloodbath is necessary. Let the trial begin,” the prosecutors added.
When asked why there has been no “bloodbath” as she supposedly wanted, the VP said she ended up following the advice of her lawyers.
“Ako yung client. May sarili akong gusto. Mayroon din akong mga abogado. Nagbabayad ako sa kanila for their professional services,” Duterte-Carpio told reporters. “Ang expertise nila na maghanda at mag-defend ng impeachment case so as a client hindi ko papairalin yung gusto ko over sa gusto ng abogado because that would mean I would waste my money paying lawyers but not listening to their expert advice … Ayoko magsunog ng pera,” she also said.
(I am the client. I have my own desire. I also have my lawyers. I pay for their professional services… Their expertise is to prepare and defend me in the impeachment case so as a client I will not insist with my desire because that would mean I would waste my money paying lawyers but not listening to their expert advice … I do not want to burn money.)
Meanwhile, a framer of the 1987 Constitution stressed the Senate has no power to “dismiss” an impeachment case.
“It (impeachment) was already filed with them on February 5. After four or five months they are now saying that they can dismiss it. Where did that come from? Where is that power to dismiss it? Ang kanilang power lang is to conduct the trial,” said lawyer Christian Monsod in a radio interview.
A member of the Constitutional Commission that drafted the 1987 Charter, Monsod said “there’s nothing here that gives them such power as dismissal of the impeachment charges.”
