Vice President Sara Duterte should personally appear before the Senate impeachment court to explain her alleged threats against President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and other top government officials, House prosecutor and Akbayan Party-list Rep. Jose Manuel “Chel” Diokno said on Monday.
Speaking at a press briefing at the House of Representatives, Diokno said it would ultimately be up to Duterte and her legal team to decide whether she would testify during the impeachment trial, but maintained that her personal testimony would help the court better assess her defense.
“That’s the call of her lawyers and herself,” Diokno said when asked whether Duterte should take the witness stand to answer allegations that she threatened President Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez.
“However, I think that for the court to have a full appreciation of what she is claiming, then the court, I think, would benefit from hearing her explain personally why she said those things that we all saw,” he added.
Diokno said the House prosecution panel is prepared to cross-examine the Vice President if she chooses to testify before the Senate impeachment court.
He also noted that Duterte had previously been invited to attend the House Committee on Justice hearings on the impeachment complaints but did not appear.
“Ito na ang pagkakataon niya na ipaliwanag ’yung kanyang mga depensa at ’yung mga sinasabi nga niya sa media pa lang so far,” he said.
One of the Articles of Impeachment filed against Duterte accuses her of contracting an assassin, making grave threats against the country’s highest officials, and inciting to sedition.
In her response before the Senate impeachment court, Duterte invoked her constitutional right to freedom of expression as part of her defense against those allegations.
Diokno rejected that argument, saying freedom of speech has constitutional limits.
“Freedom of speech is not absolute. There are limits to freedom of speech,” he said.
He added, however, that the prosecution would reserve its full arguments for the impeachment proceedings.
“We will leave it to the impeachment court to resolve the arguments made by the Vice President. We are very, very ready to respond in the proper forum,” Diokno said.
House prosecutor and Mamamayang Liberal Party-list Rep. Leila de Lima likewise declined to discuss the merits of Duterte’s defense in detail, saying the prosecution would present its position before the Senate impeachment court.
“I’m afraid that we cannot really dwell on that as extensively as we would, because that’s already touching on the merits as part of the defense of the Vice President,” De Lima said.
“We, of course, espouse the contrary view, but we’d rather that we articulate on this in due time before the impeachment court,” she added.
Meanwhile, private prosecutor Benjamin “Jay” Tolosa Jr. said the impeachment rules require not only the filing of an answer but also the respondent’s appearance before the impeachment court.
He pointed out that while Duterte has already submitted her answer, the Senate impeachment court has yet to issue an order directing her to personally appear.
“And just to clarify, under the rules, it’s expressly stated there that the impeachment court shall require the respondent to both file an answer and appear in court,” Tolosa said.
“So far, in the issuances of the impeachment court, that second part, requiring her to appear, has not been done. So, we will wait for the impeachment court when it will find it appropriate to require her to do so,” he added.
Aside from the alleged threats against President Marcos and other officials, Duterte also faces impeachment allegations involving the alleged misuse of confidential funds, alleged bribery of Department of Education personnel, and unexplained wealth.
The Senate impeachment court is scheduled to begin trial on July 6.
Photos courtesy of Philippine Star, Inquirer.net
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