Prosecutor: Marcos' stand on VP Sara impeachment shows his independence
President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr.'s opposition to the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte is a welcome development because it shows his respect to the looming impeachment trial proceedings, one of the House prosecutors said Wednesday.
Iloilo Representative Lorenz Defensor, one of the 11 prosecutors for the impeachment trial of the Vice President, made the comments in response to the President's statement at the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Malaysia that he never wanted an impeachment case against the Vice President, saying 'Why did I have to keep explaining that I didn't want impeachment?'
'I'm glad to hear that the President, as the head of the Executive Department, will not interfere with the impeachment process,' Defensor, who is also the House Deputy Majority Leader, said.
'As the President is the most powerful man in the country, he will exert undue influence on the senator-judges and we want the senator-judges to act independently, free from any influence from the Executive Department,' he added.
The President's position, Defensor said, allows the 24 senator-judges to make fair judgement.
'It's good to hear that he will not be involved so that all parties will not be judged by any undue interference from any department, considering that we have a separation of powers,' he said.
Likewise, Defensor said that he wants to see the senator judges decide on the case based on the evidence presented, rather than political affiliations.
'While we agree that it's a political process and the senators have their own affiliations, we want to see a trial, an objective trial when it comes to the presentation of evidence by the prosecution as well as by the defense,' he said.
Vice President Duterte was impeached by the House of Representatives on February 5, with over 200 congressmen endorsing the complaint against her. She was accused of betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the Constitution, graft and corruption, and other high crimes mainly over alleged misuse of around P612.5 million worth of confidential funds and threatening to kill Marcos, Jr., his wife Liza, and the President's cousin and Speaker, Leyte First District Representative Martin Romualdez.
The Vice President, for her part, said she is looking forward to her impeachment trial in the upcoming 20th Congress because she 'wants a bloodbath,'' noting that her legal team is on "full throttle" in their preparations.
Under the Constitution, House impeachment prosecutors would need 16 votes or two-thirds of the 24-strong Senate to secure conviction. — BM, GMA Integrated News
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