(UPDATE) SEN. Imee Marcos, an ally of Vice President Sara Duterte, on Wednesday said the delay in the transmittal of the articles of impeachment against her to the Senate was a “political maneuver” by the House of Representatives to control the timing of the Senate trial.
Voting 257-25-9, the House on Monday impeached Duterte and agreed to send the articles of impeachment to the Senate for trial.
The senator on Wednesday said the excuse of the House that it is still reproducing voluminous documents “is flimsy, unacceptable and difficult to take seriously.”
“I, for one, want the impeachment proceedings to begin, proceed and be resolved in a timely manner, so that the Senate and the rest of government can return their full attention to the pressing issues burdening the Filipino people,” Marcos said.
She said the House “has dozens, if not hundreds, of personnel at its disposal, backed by full administrative, legal, records, printing and information technology support.”
“In fact, last year, the House was able to transmit the articles of impeachment to the Senate on the very same day they were approved,” Marcos said in a statement.
“It cannot now pretend that paperwork has suddenly become an insurmountable obstacle,” she said.
“This delay appears less like an administrative concern and more like a political maneuver to control the timing of the Senate proceedings,” Marcos added.
But Bicol Saro Rep. Terry Ridon defended the time it was taking the House to send the impeachment articles against Duterte to the Senate.
“We respect the view of Sen. Imee Marcos on the issue of the transmittal of the articles of impeachment but we need to clarify that the situation last year was different.... Under the impeachment this year, it went through the House Committee on Justice wherein the hearing and gathering of documents and evidence were extensive so rightfully so, the documents and evidence we are talking about are thicker and lengthier,” Ridon said in Filipino and English.
“Second, there are new Supreme Court guidelines in initiating impeachment proceedings so this is part of the care that the House is exercising... to ensure that all the due process requirements as to the vice president, and the whole process is done by the House properly,” he said.
“Lastly, there is nothing in the law, the Constitution, and the House’s and Senate’s rules of impeachment that there should be a transmittal on the same day as the impeachment vote in the House,” he said.
