Sara Duterte’s impeachment looms: Not a question of if, but how many votes

MANILA, Philippines – The House of Representatives is expected to tackle the impeachment case of Vice President Sara Duterte in the plenary on Monday, May 11.

Her impeachment for a second time is all but certain, after parties committed numbers to impeach Vice President Sara Duterte.

Manual computation from the numbers provided by Lakas, National Unity Party, and the Party-List Coalition Foundation indicate the House has at least 137 votes to indict her, which is comfortably above the constitutional one-third threshold, or 106 out of 318 lawmakers.

But the impeachment movers have also not hid their effort to reach 215 votes to match the amount of support from last year, when the House first attempted to put the Vice President on trial.

House justice committee member Terry Ridon said Thursday, May 7, that the House has already convinced at least 215 members to back the impeachment drive.

Before the House plenary adjourned on Wednesday, May 6, the House distributed copies of the committee report containing the resolution that sets forth the articles of impeachment to all lawmakers.

This is an act of caution on the part of the House after the Supreme Court ruled last year that lawmakers must be given a “reasonable period of time determined on the basis of the complexity of the charges” to reach their independent decision whether or not to endorse an impeachment complaint.

There are four articles of impeachment against the Vice President, related to her alleged misuse of confidential funds, bribery of government officials, death threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., and unexplained wealth.

The grounds for impeachment cited include betrayal of public trust, bribery, graft and corruption, culpable violation of the Constitution, and other high crimes.

Duterte snubbed all impeachment hearings, but offered general denials of the allegations in official statements and press briefings of her legal team outside Congress.

Once the articles of impeachment pass the House, the case will be sent to the Senate, which will then convene as an impeachment court to try the Vice President. – Rappler.com