Sara impeachment proceedings eyed next week

MANILA, Philippines — The secretary-general of the House of Representatives is expected to act on impeachment complaints filed against Vice President Sara Duterte once Congress resumes session next week.

“Everything will move on Monday,” House secretary-general Reginald Velasco said in Filipino during an interview with “Storycon” on One News yesterday. “By next week, I will have to decide on it.”

Under House rules, the House secretary-general must immediately transmit to the Office of the Speaker all impeachment complaints filed in his office.

Velasco said he held off transmitting the three complaints filed against Duterte last month after some lawmakers asked for time to either review the complaints or file a fourth one.

“By next week, I will talk to these congressmen about their plans so I can decide,” added Velasco.

Aside from the possible fourth complaint, Velasco said he is also waiting for the possible filing of the consolidated version of the first three complaints. He said he was informed by the Makabayan bloc, which endorsed one of the three complaints, of the plan to submit a consolidated impeachment complaint against Duterte.

Makabayan lawmakers reportedly met with the other complainants on Wednesday to discuss their plan. The two other complaints were endorsed by Akbayan party-list Rep. Perci Cendaña and Camarines Sur 3rd District Rep. Gabriel Bordado.

According to Velasco, once the complaints are transmitted to the Office of House Speaker, Speaker Martin Romualdez will decide on whether he will transmit one or all of the complaints to the committee on rules.

The committee on rules will then transmit the complaints to the committee on justice, which has 60 session days to act on the matter.

Velasco added that the one-year period of prohibition from filing an impeachment complaint against the same official begins when a complaint is transmitted to the committee on justice.

The House of Representatives also has the option to dispense of the lengthy process if an impeachment complaint is endorsed by at least one-third of its members. Makabayan said it has initiated a signature campaign to reach the target 103 signatures of House members.

Congress will