Reelected Manila Representative Joel Chua and Bicol Saro Party-list Representative Terry Ridon cautioned against what they described as the possible misuse of the one-year bar rule in the ongoing impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte.
The lawmakers underscored that the rule which bars the filing of more than one impeachment complaint against the same official within a year should not be used to derail efforts to exact accountability from impeachable officials.
“Pwede po kasi itong magamit para dun sa kakampi ng kung sino man ang ipapa-impeach natin.”
“Halimbawa po kakampi po ako ng president. Every year na lang po magpa-file ako kahit walang kakwenta-kwentang impeachment para at least ma-meet ko yung one-year ban rule? Pag na-file ko na, at kung nandoon sa rule dapat paunahan, e di ita-transmit na po. So pwede po kasi itong magamit para dun sa kakampi ng kung sino man ang ipapa-impeach natin,” Chua said.
Ridon then argued that the petitions filed before the Supreme Court (SC) questioning the validity of the complaints against VP Duterte have no merit, particularly those invoking the one-year ban rule.
The legislator pointed out that the first three complaints never reached the House Committee on Justice.
“Tingin ko ang magiging tanong ng SC ay particularly doon sa first three complaints ay, una meron bang nag-file? Nangyari na ho iyon,” the lawmaker said.
“Pero ang susunod which is a requirement under the Gutierrez and Francisco (Francisco v. House of Representatives and Gutierrez v. House of Representatives), nagkaroon ba ng referral to the House Committee on Justice? I think the facts are clear that there was never a referral to the House Committee on Justice on the first, on the second, and on the third complaint. So basically dapat ho mabasura po ultimately ito pong kaso na ito,” he added.
Despite the pending petitions, Chua said the Senate should already proceed with the trial in the absence of a Supreme Court-issued temporary restraining order.
“Wala pong dahilan para hintayin ang Senado kung ano po ang magiging desisyon ng Korte Suprema dahil wala naman pong TRO na nilalabas.”
“Wala pong dahilan para hintayin ang Senado kung ano po ang magiging desisyon ng Korte Suprema dahil wala naman pong TRO na nilalabas. So sa ngayon dapat po mag-proceed pa rin po ang trial hangga’t hindi ito pinapahinto ng Korte Suprema,” the legislator said.
Ridon backed this, saying that the Senate has the duty to move forward with the case.
“They should not serve as a reason for the Senate impeachment court to further delay proceedings and not act on their constitutional mandate, which is to try and decide the impeachment case of VP Sara Duterte in the soonest possible time,” he stressed.
Chua also rejected claims that the SC was interfering with the impeachment process, saying the House was simply being asked to provide records.
“Maliwanag naman po ‘yung hinihingi ng SC: ito po ay parte ng pagresolba sa issue na ibinato sa kanila,” he said.
Both lawmakers said the Constitution and existing jurisprudence are clear and should not be twisted to shield public officials from accountability.
