MANILA, Philippines — House prosecutors on Wednesday said the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte was not meant to determine criminal guilt but to decide whether she was fit to hold public office.
Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong said senators sitting as impeachment judges were expected to evaluate Duterte’s conduct, public statements, judgment and restraint in deciding whether she should remain the country’s second-highest elected official.
“The Senate is testing the Vice President’s conduct, her statements, her actions, her judgment and her restraint,” Adiong said.
San Juan Rep. Bel Zamora, meanwhile, urged the impeachment court not to apply the standards of a criminal prosecution to the proceedings, saying the issue is constitutional accountability rather than the elements of a criminal offense.
“We should not look for the elements of a crime because this is an impeachment case,” Zamora said.
