Impeachment complaint ng Kamara laban kay VP Sara, kinuwestiyon sa Korte Suprema
Pormal nang kinuwestiyon sa Korte Suprema ng ilang abogado mula sa Mindanao ang anila’y depektibong articles of impeachment ng Kamara na isinumite sa Senado laban kay Vice- President Sara Duterte.
Sa mahigit 100-pahinang petisyon, hiniling ng mga abogado sa Supreme Court na ideklarang null and void o walang bisa ang articles of impeachment dahil sa kabiguan na makatugon sa requirements na hinihingi ng Saligang Batas sa impeachment proceedings na verification at proper initiation.
Ang lagda anila ng mga mambabatas na pumabor sa impeachment ay hindi katumbas ng proper verification.
Ayon sa isa sa petitioners na si Atty. Israelito Torreon, “The verification process requires that it should be personally known the allegations are personally known and studied by the respective congressmen who signed it. There was only around 3 hours between 12 o’clock and 3:15 before it was included in the additional house business reference, by that time we feel we have reasons to believe that some of the congressmen were not even able to peruse the complaint as well as assess the evidence attached to the impeachment complaint.”
Pinuna rin ng petitioners ang kawalan ng transparency sa agenda ng House caucus noong Pebrero 5 kung saan hindi alam ng ibang kongresista na ang pag-uusapan ay ukol sa impeachment.
Kumbinsido ang petitioners na minadali o ni-railroad ng Kamara ang impeachment process gaya ng nangyari noon sa kaso ni late Chief Justice Renato Corona.
Sinabi pa ni Torreon, “What did they do? They fast tracked. We can even characterized it to borrow the words of chief justice corona blitzkrieg fashion.”
Katunayan nito ay hindi anila binigyan ng due process at abiso si VP Sara para sagutin ang mga alegasyon bago ang paghahain ng impeachment complaint.
Aniya, “The vice president was denied prior notice and hearing prior to the filing of this fourth complaint she was never informed before hand is going to be filed against her.”
Hindi rin anila dumaan sa rebyu at deliberasyon ng Committee on Justice ang ika-apat na impeachment complaint na nakasaad sa rules ng Kamara sa impeachment.
Maaari lang anila na hindi i-refer sa komite ang impeachment complaint kung one-third ng lahat ng miyembro ng Kamara ay ang mismong complainant sa kaso.
Ipinunto rin ng petitioners na hindi inaksyunan ng Kamara ang unang tatlong impeachment complaint para paikutan ang one year bar rule sa impeachment na nakasaad sa Konstitusyon.
Ayon pa kay Torreon, “Specifically article 11 section 3 thereof mandates that upon receipt of impeachment complaint the same should be included in the house order of business within 10 business days and thereafter the speaker should have referred it to the committee on justicw within 3 days. If the 3 complaints were entertained included in order of business within 10 session days and included within 3 session days in the Committee of Justice, refered to the Committee of Justice, then the one year bar rule would have operated and the fourth impeachment complaint should have not legally entertained.”
Kasabay nito, hiniling ng petitioners sa SC na mag-isyu ng TRO para pigilan ang Senado na aksyunan ang impeachment complaint at huwag simulan ang impeachment trial dahil sa depektibo ang articles of impeachment.
Idinipensa naman ng petitioners ang kanilang petisyon mula sa mga pagbatikos na ito ay desperadong hakbangin para hindi mapanagot si VP Sara.
Ayon pa sa isa sa petitioners na si Atty. Martin Delgra, “Kung tinama nila ang ginawa nila sa house sa ngayon sa Saligang Batas wala po kami rito di kami magpa-file ng petition for certiorari dahil nga di sinunod constitution and that’s why we need to question because we as registered voters who voted for vice president will make our vote inutil kasi kung successful ang impeachment na yan mawawalam ng silbi ang boto namin.”
Sa en banc session naman ngayong araw ng Supreme Court, inatasan nito ang Senado na magkomento sa petisyon na humihiling na simulan na ang impeachment proceedings kay VP Sara.
Sinabi ni SC Spokesperson Atty. Camille Ting, “Catalino Aldea Generillo, Jr., filed a petition for mandamus, asking the SC to direct the members of the Senate to immediately constitute themselves as an impeachment court to try the impeachment charges against Vice President Sara Duterte. The SC required the Senate to comment on the petition within a non-extendible period of 10 days from receipt of notice.”
Moira Encina-Cruz
