By Junex Doronio
MANILA — Citing their constitutional mandate, two lawmakers on Tuesday (03 Dec 2024) said they have “no choice” but to act on the impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte despite their apprehension over the timeline for its processing.
“If we start by January, tapos magbi-break ng bandang February at mag-resume, dahil election year, bandang Mayo na, kailan pa? But walang choice kundi gawin ang trabaho ng Kongreso,” Bataan 1st District Rep. Geraldine Roman said during a media briefing.
However, she stressed that the House of Representatives has “no choice” but to work on the complaint as it is a part of their duties.
“From a purely Constitutional point-of-view, bahagi ito ng mandato ng Kongreso. Kung mayroong nag-file ng impeachment complaint, we have no choice but to process the entire complaint,” Roman added.
On Monday afternoon (2 December 2024), civil society groups, religious leaders, sectoral representatives, and families of victims of extrajudicial killings (EJKs) filed an impeachment complaint against Vice President Duterte and this was endorsed by Akbayan Party-list Rep. Perci Cendaña
“It has to go through the entire process — from the filing to the referral to the Justice Committee, to the deliberations, the voting, and if approved, the referral to the Senate,” Roman clarified.
For his part, House Deputy Majority Leader and Tingog party list Rep. Jude Acidre echoed Roman’s remarks, saying legislators are “bound on the mandate to act on an impeachment complaint filed with the House”.
“The leadership has yet to give their definite guidance on the matter but nonetheless, I think most of us members of Congress, are one in saying that were are ready to undertake our Constitutionally bound duty to tackle the impeachment complaint,” Acidre quipped.
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