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GMA Network
21 hours ago
- Politics
- GMA Network
Palace: Sara Duterte impeachment trial beyond President Marcos' reach
The impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte is beyond the reach of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said Friday. 'Maliwanag po ang sinabi ng Pangulo na sa simula po ay ayaw niya talaga po ng impeachment dahil maaaring mayroon pong ibang mga legal na pamamaraan para mapanagot ang dapat mapanagot. Pero ngayon po, ang Bise Presidente po ay impeached na, wala na po sa Pangulo ito,' Castro said during a Palace press briefing. (What the President said is clear from the very start. He does not favor impeachment because there may be other legal remedies to hold public officials accountable. But now that the Vice President is already impeached, this is out of the President's hands.) 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, First Lady Liza, and the President's cousin and Speaker, Leyte First District Rep. Martin Romualdez. 'Iyon naman po ay kaniyang suggestion lang, kung maaari ay ayaw niya ng impeachment. Ang sabi po ng Pangulo, proseso,' Castro added. (What the President said is a mere suggestion. But he favors due process.) Further, Castro said that the President does not have the authority over any impeachment proceeding. 'The impeachment trial is not the business of the Executive. Hindi po makikialam ang Pangulo patungkol po diyan, pero sinabi po niya na dapat umandar ang proseso, irespeto ang due process,' Castro said. (The President won't meddle with the impeachment process, but the President also said the process should be followed, with respect to due process.) 'So, ito po ay nasa kamay na ng mga prosecutors, nasa kamay na po ng Senado. 'Pag sinabi po nating proseso, dapat sundin ang batas,' she added. (The impeachment is in the hands of the prosecutors and the Senate. And when we say process, law should be followed.) Castro also said the ultimate judge of the public officials' performance, whether it is the Vice President, senators or the House prosecutors, is the people. 'Ang taumbayan na po ang titingin at maghuhusga sa mga taong nasa loob or maaaring gumalaw para sa impeachment trial. Ang mga prosecutors dapat gampanan ang kanilang trabaho bilang prosecutors; ang mga senador bilang judges ay dapat ding gampanan ang kanilang trabaho bilang senators-judges. Proseso po ang nais ng Pangulo,' Castro said. (The public will be the one to judge those involved in the impeachment trial. The prosecutors should do their job as prosecutors, the senators should do their job as senator-judges. At the end of the day, what the President wants is due process.) 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." —AOL, GMA Integrated News
GMA Network
2 days ago
- Politics
- GMA Network
Sara Duterte's confi fund recipients have surnames of senators —Ortega
The recipients of the P500 million worth of confidential funds of the office of Vice President Sara Duterte in 2023 included people bearing surnames similar to the incumbent senators, House Deputy Majority Leader and La Union Representative Paolo Ortega V said Thursday. Ortega said based on the acknowledgement receipts submitted by the OVP to the Commission on Audit on the disbursement of confidential funds, the recipients include Beth Revilla, Janice Marie Revilla, Diane Maple Lapid, John Lapid Jr., Clarisse Hontiveros, Kristine Applegate Estrada, and Denise Tanya Escudero. Incumbent senators include Bong Revilla, Jr., Lito Lapid, Risa Hontiveros, Jinggoy Estrada, and Senate President Francis Escudero. 'These irregularities are too glaring to ignore—these names from the supposed Budol Gang call for a deeper look. Hanggang Senado po, hindi na pinalampas," Ortega said in a statement. Aside from the people with surnames similar to senators, the OVP submissions of confidential fund recipients also included Cannor Adrian Contis which is similar to a cake shop and restaurant. "Kapag ba may confidential funds ang opisina mo, may sweet tooth ka din? When these suspicious names turned out to be fixtures, this is not just a simple malfeasance. It is well-coordinated and well-planned siphoning of public funds," Ortega said. (If your office is a recipient of confidential funds, does that mean you should have a sweet tooth?) 'Hindi nakakatawa ang paulit-ulit na paggamit ng mga pekeng pangalan na parang hinugot mula sa sine at showbiz (The repeated use of fictitious names from the movies and showbiz is not funny). We are talking about public funds here. If they cannot show evidence that these people exist, then these are strong evidence against them in the impeachment trial," Ortega added. Ortega said the recipients of confidential funds bearing surnames of senators are among the over 1,300 names who did not have birth, marriage, or death records from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). Other earlier names disclosed by Ortega were from 'Team Grocery" such as Beverly Claire Pampano, Mico Harina, Ralph Josh Bacon, Patty Ting and Sala Casim, as well as Mary Grace Piattos and Xiaome Ocho which are similar to popular junk food, bake shop, and mobile phone brand. The Joint Circular 2015-01 governing the use of confidential and intelligence funds require agencies to maintain sealed and verifiable documentation linking aliases to real identities. The Senate is scheduled to convene as an impeachment court on June 2. 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 President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., First Lady Liza Marcos, and the President's cousin and Speaker, Leyte First District Rep. 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." Under the Constitution, House impeachment prosecutors would need 16 votes or two-thirds of the 24-strong Senate to secure conviction. GMA News Online has reached out to the camp of the Vice President for comment and will publish it as soon as it is available. —AOL, GMA Integrated News
GMA Network
3 days ago
- Politics
- GMA Network
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
GMA Network
4 days ago
- Politics
- GMA Network
De Lima unfazed by Pulse survey showing 50% 'disagree' with VP Sara's impeachment
ML party-list Rep.-elect and House prosecutor Leila de Lima is unfazed by the unpopularity of Vice President Sara Duterte's impeachment, as shown in the latest Pulse Asia survey which showed at least 50% disagreed with the move. "Wala pong epekto iyon [survey]. Para sa akin, and ganun rin siguro ang nasa isipan ng mga iba lang member ng prosecution panel, na hindi po kami magpapadala sa surveys ng ganyan," De Lima said in an interview on Super Radyo dzBB on Tuesday. (Surveys have no bearing at this point. We prosecutors won't be swayed by that.) "Kasi parang yung election din ito, diba. Sa election, may mga surveys. Pero, I always believe na ang tunay na surveys, election day mismo. Nakita natin ito noong nakaraan na eleksiyon lang na hindi talaga tumugma 'yung naging surveys," added De Lima. (It happened last election; the pre-election surveys did not match the election results.) "Dito sa usapin ng impeachment, kailangan lang makita, malaman ng mga tao, during the presentation of evidence, kung gaano kalakas yung mga ebidensya. At siguro, kung malakas talaga ang ebidensya, magbabago yung kaisipan ng ilan o karamihan dun sa mga surveys na 'yan," explained De Lima. (When it comes to impeachment, the public just needs to know what the evidence is and the weight of such evidence. If the evidence is airtight, they will change their minds and the survey results will change.) Public opinion De Lima also said that it is premature to ask the public about the impeachment trial since the full-blown proceedings has yet to start. "Iyong totoong magiging public opinion rito is during the impeachment proceedings... as it goes along, habang pinepresent na lalo ng prosecution iyong mga ebidensiya," said De Lima. (The true public opinion will surface during the impeachment proceedings, once the evidence are presented.) According to the report on the survey conducted from May 6 to 9 nationwide among 1,200 registered voters, 28% agree with the filing of the impeachment case by the House of Representatives. The survey had an overall margin of error of ±2.8 percentage points. A copy of the report on the results has been posted on Pulse Asia's website. Twenty-one percent could not say if they agreed or disagreed. Duterte was impeached by the House of Representatives on February 5, 2025 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 President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., his wife Liza and the President's cousin and Speaker, Leyte First District Rep. 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. —VAL, GMA Integrated News
GMA Network
5 days ago
- Politics
- GMA Network
De Lima: Premature to ask senators VP Sara endorsed to recuse from impeachment trial
'As a lawyer and former Justice Secretary, I believe that every senator has the duty to judge the impeachment based on the evidence and the Constitution. Nothing more, nothing less," De Lima said. It is premature to ask senators whose candidacies have been endorsed by Vice President Sara Duterte to recuse themselves from her impeachment trial, ML party-list Representative-elect Leila De Lima said on Monday. De Lima, a former senator and a former secretary of justice, instead called on the senators to rule on the articles of impeachment against Sara Duterte based on the evidence and the 1987 Constitution. 'As a lawyer and former Justice Secretary, I believe that every senator has the duty to judge the impeachment based on the evidence and the Constitution. Nothing more, nothing less," De Lima said. "So ang hiling po natin ay hindi mag-recuse o mag-inhibit, kundi tumingin sa ebidensiya, at tuparin ang sinumpaang tungkulin sa mga Pilipino,' she added. (Our wish is not for them to recuse or inhibit but to look at the evidence and do their sworn duty to the Filipinos.) De Lima is a member of the prosecution panel of the House of Representatives. She said it was important to stick with the impeachment process, and senator-judges should have the chance to prove their mettle and integrity, given that the trial will air on national television for the public to witness. 'Masyado pang maaga para ikonsidera ang issue ng possible inhibition. Tingnan muna natin kung ano talaga ang mga magiging asta o mga pahayag nila kapag mag-umpisa na ang impeachment trial proceedings,' De Lima said. (It is premature to consider the issue of possible inhibition. Let's first see how the senators will carry themselves when the impeachment trial proceedings start.) 'Dahil televised ang proceedings, makikita rin ng taumbayan kung makatwiran at makatarungan ang paghuhusga ng senator-judges, at hindi lamang batay sa loyalty sa kung kaninong politiko,' she added. (Since the proceedings are televised, the public will be able to witness if the Senator judges will be reasonable and can deliver justice instead of deciding based on loyalty to a certain politician.) Under the Constitution, the conviction of an impeached official requires 16 votes or two-thirds of the 24-member Senate. For an impeached official to be acquitted, he or she needs nine. The Vice President was impeached by the House of Reentatives 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 President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., his wife First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and the President's cousin, Speaker, Leyte First District Rep. Martin Romualdez. The Vice President 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. –NB, GMA Integrated News
