MANILA, Philippines — Manila 6th District Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr. admitted that some lawmakers, like himself, are cold to the idea of pursuing impeachment complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte, as the 19th Congress may run out of time.
In an interview with reporters covering the House of Representatives, Abante said that the remaining session days before Congress goes on recess for the 2025 midterm elections’ campaign season might be too few to conduct impeachment proceedings, especially since the complaints are still with the Office of the Secretary General.
“I’ve said before that I don’t think we’re ready for that yet […] well, first of all, we don’t have enough time. We only have 10 session days left, and the third impeachment charge has been filed with the Secretary General. The impeachment charges haven’t even been processed by the SecGen yet, and there might even be a fourth one,” he said, partly in Filipino.
Article continues after this advertisement“So when that comes out of the Secretary General’s office, it will go to the Speaker for review […] In reality, though, there’s no time left. Ten session days is too short for that. And it’s not just that, it’s already campaign season, the elections are near, and then it will be transmitted to the Senate. And we’re not even sure if the Senate will take it up,” he added.
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Abante said no one has approached him to solicit support for either the existing complaints or a possible fourth petition. According to Secretary General Reginald Velasco, a group of lawmakers plans to file a fourth petition using a so-called “fast-tracked” process, where one-third of all House members would endorse the complaint, allowing it to be immediately forwarded to the Senate.
Article continues after this advertisementHowever, the lawmaker said some of his colleagues have reservations about the complaints for the same reasons he cited.
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Article continues after this advertisement“Well, they can obtain one-third, that’s 103 congressmen. But at this point in time, there’s none, I don’t think that even the other congressman would want to be in it,” Abante noted.
Article continues after this advertisement“For me, I think that some of them are actually quite cold to the impeachment proceeding; in fact, the others I’ve spoken to were asking if anyone had approached me, and I told them, ‘Not yet.’ […] In our quad committee, no one has approached me asking for an endorsement or saying they’ve endorsed the impeachment. No one. So, the others I’ve spoken to also have reservations about the impeachment, actually,” he added.
READ: 41% of Filipinos back impeachment of VP Sara Duterte
Article continues after this advertisementAbante clarified, though, that he is not against impeachment; rather, he believes efforts to seek accountability from the Vice President would have a better chance during the 20th Congress.
“We still have a chance; every year an impeachment can be filed. After that, in the 20th Congress, we could be able to file the impeachment if we want to. Then, I think at that time we are prepared to tackle that already. In the next impeachment, perhaps I’ll be in favor of the impeachment proceeding as long as we are prepared to tackle it,” he noted.
“I think after this Congress, in the 20th Congress, I think the more we would investigate, the more we would be able to see what’s happening,” he added.
According to the 19th Congress calendar, sessions will adjourn by February 7 to allow lawmakers to prepare for the 2025 midterm elections. After the polls, sessions will resume on June 2 and adjourn by June 13.
Considering the House’s habit of holding sessions from Monday to Wednesday, only 15 session days will remain before the members of the 19th Congress end their term.
As of now, three impeachment complaints have been filed with Velasco’s office. However, none of these have been forwarded to the office of Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez.
Last Tuesday, Velasco explained that he has not forwarded the complaints to Romualdez’s office in order to give time to a group of 12 lawmakers from both the Majority and the Minority, who are seeking at least 103 signatures to endorse a new complaint.
Under Section 3, Article XI of the 1987 Constitution, an impeachment complaint can be fast-tracked if one-third of all House members file the complaint, which means a Senate trial will immediately be launched.
With 310 members in the House, the group would need 103 members to sign the impeachment complaint.
READ: Some solons looking for endorsers to expedite VP Duterte’s impeachment
According to Velasco, he would give this group of lawmakers more time to find endorsers. However, if the fourth complaint against Duterte is not filed by Thursday next week, Velasco said he will be forced to forward the first three petitions to Romualdez.
READ: Velasco: VP Sara impeach raps to be processed if no new cases are coming
The different complainants, however, believe the House must act now on the impeachment complaints. Also on Tuesday, former Senator Leila de Lima said the House might send the wrong signals if it delays processing the impeachment raps against Duterte.
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READ: De Lima: House delaying impeachment vs VP Sara sends wrong signals
De Lima, spokesperson for the first batch of complainantsvoslot, said in a statement that delaying the impeachment complaints could be seen as tolerating incompetence and abuse of public funds.
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