MANILA: The hearing of the House committee on justice started its formal impeachment hearing even without the presence of Vice President Sara Duterte, who skipped the proceeding.
During the hearing on Wednesday (March 25), the committee allocated a seat for the vice president beside Mamamayang Liberal Party-list Representative Leila de Lima.
However, it was left vacant as the panel continued its discussions.
On Tuesday night, Duterte’s legal team spokesperson, Michael Poa, confirmed that they had submitted a letter to the justice committee stating that the vice president would not attend the hearing.
Poa said that Duterte’s absence is “in light of the constitutional objections raised” by her team.
After this, committee chairperson and Batangas Representative Gerville Luistro said that the impeachment process will continue regardless of whether Duterte is present or absent.
In a statement, Luistro said they received information that Duterte will not show up in the hearing scheduled on Wednesday, March 25, despite the invitations from the panel.
“We received information that the vice president and her legal team will not be participating in tomorrow’s (Wednesday) formal hearing,” Luistro said.
“They are questioning the constitutionality of the proceedings, but the committee on justice is duty-bound to continue with its mandate under the Constitution,” she added. “The hearing will proceed.”
Early Tuesday, Luistro said in an online interview that if Duterte skips the impeachment hearings, she runs the risk of losing her chance to convince lawmakers that the complaints against her lack probable cause.
If Duterte does not attend, Luistro said no one can counter the claims raised against her because only respondents will be given the chance to directly answer issues.
She also noted that respondents’ lawyers are only allowed to assist their clients, as in any other congressional inquiry.
The committee on justice will start its formal hearing on the two remaining complaints against Duterte on Wednesday, March 25, after it previously declared the grounds in the raps as sufficient.
Two of the four complaints remain under the jurisdiction of the committee on justice, after the first was set aside for allegedly violating the one-year bar rule and the second was withdrawn by its petitioners.
All four complaints contained allegations that are similar to the botched impeachment attempt last February 2025 — from allegations of confidential fund misuse, threats against ranking officials, bribery of officials, and other possible violations of the 1987 Constitution.
Last March 4, both raps were declared sufficient in substance, prompting the committee to send the formal notice of the complaints to Duterte, giving her 10 calendar days to answer.
Duterte was able to beat the deadline last March 16, but complainants from the third and fourth impeachment complaints waived their right to reply to the vice president’s consolidated verified answer ad cautelam as it was a non-answer.
Due to the waivers, the committee went straight to the determination of sufficiency of grounds in the complaints, making the process a little quicker than expected. - Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN
