House panel resumes hearing on VP Sara impeach cases
MANILA, Philippines — Formal hearing on the impeachment complaints filed against Vice President Sara Duterte will resume this week, where the House committee on justice will discuss the merits of the cases after lawmakers found them “sufficient in form, in substance and in grounds.”
The panel led by Batangas 2nd district Rep. Gerville Luistro will be deliberating on step 4 of the impeachment process beginning March 25, as Congress vowed to continue the proceedings even during recess.
Following trial proper (step 4), the justice panel will try to determine “probable cause” (step 5), where a majority vote from all its 55 members will send the impeachment cases to plenary.
Prior to this, an overwhelming 54 votes – with only Quezon City 4th district Rep. Bong Suntay as the exception – declared the Saballa-Cabrera impeachment complaints sufficient in form and in substance.
Luistro warned that Duterte’s absence on this next stage of impeachment proceedings could leave the allegations against her unchallenged and thereby hasten the case’s transmission to the Senate.
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