Impeach trial: Sara to answer bank account questions

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte said she is ready to answer questions about her bank accounts, amid reports that her critics were able to secure a copy of her bank records.

“On my bank accounts, I am just waiting for the (impeachment) trial wherein I will answer all the questions about the bank accounts. As of now, the information with regard to the bank accounts were obtained illegally and I have no obligation to answer them,” Duterte said.

She stressed that even if the impeachment case against her does not proceed, she will still address the issue of her bank accounts.

“If the impeachment will not prosper, I will endeavor to sit down and answer their allegations in the impeachment through the public,” the Vice President said.

According to her, she will not be in the Philippines when the 20th Congress opens on July 28.

“I cannot go home before the SONA (State of the Nation Address). In any event, my lawyers are there and they’re continually preparing the witnesses, our witnesses for the impeachment and continually gathering the pieces of evidence needed,” she noted.

The Vice President said that she has no plans to file charges against those who got her bank records illegally.

“I will no longer (file cases). I did not file any case against those (behind) all the libelous issues that came out,” she said.

Reacting to the results of the latest Social Weather Station (SWS) survey, which showed that 42 percent of Filipinos do not favor an impeachment trial against her, Duterte said it is proof that the case is “pure political persecution and harassment.”

“Many of our fellow Filipinos understand what they are doing to me and my family,” she said.

The SWS poll, conducted from June 25-29, said only 32 percent of respondents backed the impeachment case against Duterte.

Meanwhile, almost half of respondents, or 44 percent, believe the Senate is deliberately delaying the impeachment trial.

Malacañang, for its part, maintained its non-interference in the impeachment trial.

“Whatever the survey says, that is the sentiment of the people, so we will respect that,” Presidential Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro said.

Lawmakers, on the other hand, reiterated the constitutional mandate of holding an impeachment trial.

“Regardless of the result of the survey, we have a constitutional duty that we really have to face. There is nothing more supreme than the Philippine Constitution becausethat is the mandate of the people,” Batangas 2nd district Rep. Gerville Luistro, one of the 11 House prosecutors in the trial, said.

Determined to abort the impeachment trial of the Vice President, Duterte loyalist Sen. Ronald dela Rosa said he will ask the Senate plenary whether the 20th Congress is willing to take up the impeachment case, a question that could determine whether the trial proceeds or ends without hearing evidence.

It can be recalled that Dela Rosa’s controversial motion to dismiss the impeachment case during last month’s proceedings was thwarted, and instead turned into a motion to remand the Articles of Impeachment back to the House.

“One thing I can assure you is that, from my personal belief… since the impeachment court asked the House as to their stand… if the 20th Congress is willing to be bound by the actions of their predecessors in the 19th Congress… you can expect me also to raise this in question to the floor once the 20th Congress convenes,” Dela Rosa told reporters yesterday.

The Senate is currently under fire for what legal experts and critics believe as an “intended delay” of the proceedings against Duterte. – Neil Jayson Servallos, Helen Flores, Jose Rodel Clapano, Marc Jayson Cayabyab, Delon Porcalla