QC court junks Mans Carpio plea to stop impeachment proceedings vs Sara Duterte

MANILA, Philippines – A Quezon City court threw out the petition filed by Vice President Sara Duterte’s husband Mans Carpio that sought to stop the impeachment proceedings against his wife.

“The respondents are acting in the official capacity as part of the House committee on justice, a co-equal branch of the government, hence, the case at bench should have been filed with the Supreme Court,” the ruling of QC Regional Trial Court Branch 81 read, citing lack of jurisdiction.

“To enjoin the public individuals in the performance of their duty in the determination of the sufficiency of the impeachment complaint is to prevent said body to exercise its quasi-judicial or ministerial functions,” it added.

Carpio had challenged the House justice committee’s power to issue subpoenas compelling the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to produce the tax documents of the second couple.

“The issuance of the subpoena duces tecum ad testificandum is an inherent power of the Committee, which is validly created by law, to carry out this constitutional mandate effectively in the conduct of its hearing,” the ruling also read.

The BIR, in a hearing in March, surrendered to the committee a sealed box containing the couple’s tax records, but lawmakers decided not to open it amid legal concerns. The tax bureau later launched an audit probe into the couple.

The House committee’s requests for financial documents of Duterte and Carpio were part of its clarificatory hearings to evaluate the allegations of unexplained wealth against the Vice President.

The committee later adopted a report that cited Duterte’s unexplained wealth as among the impeachable offenses against her.

The House is set to conduct a plenary vote on Duterte’s impeachment on May 11. Early tallies strongly indicate that the Vice President would likely be indicted for a second time. – Rappler.com