House prosecution panel adviser and spokesperson Robert Ace Barbers on Tuesday said Vice President Sara Duterte’s 32.2 million votes in the 2022 elections do not prevent her from facing the impeachment process over allegations of constitutional and legal violations.
Barbers made the statement after Duterte’s lead defense counsel Sheila Sison argued that removing the Vice President through impeachment would disregard the mandate given by millions of voters and render their votes “useless.”
The former Surigao del Norte representative said electoral support does not provide immunity from accountability for public officials.
“Does that mean, because you’re the most powerful person in the government and because you were able to get X amount of votes, does that give you a license to commit all these violations? Sa aking palagay, medyo hindi iyon ang intensyon ng gumawa ng ating Saligang Batas” Barbers said.
He said impeachment is a constitutional mechanism intended to hold the country’s highest officials accountable and protect the public interest.
“Kaya nga nilagay ito sa ating Constitution ay para proteksyunan ang interes ng ating mamamayang Pilipino laban sa mga posibleng pag-abuso o paglabag ng ating matataas na opisyal sa gobyerno,” he added.
Barbers said the impeachment process allows allegations against impeachable officials to be examined and resolved through the constitutional procedure, regardless of the number of votes they received in an election.
“The Constitution does not exempt anyone from accountability simply because they received millions of votes,” he said.
“If there are allegations of violations of the Constitution or other laws, the impeachment process exists to determine whether those charges have merit,” he added.
The Senate impeachment court on Monday began hearing the four Articles of Impeachment filed against Duterte.
The charges accuse the Vice President of alleged misuse of confidential funds, unexplained wealth, bribery involving officials of the Department of Education (DepEd), and grave threats against President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
Duterte has repeatedly denied the allegations.
Under Article XI, Section 2 of the 1987 Constitution, only the President, Vice President, members of the Supreme Court, members of the Constitutional Commissions, and the Ombudsman may be removed from office through impeachment.
Duterte secured 32.2 million votes in the 2022 elections, the highest number of votes received by a candidate in a Philippine election.
President Marcos won the presidency in the same elections with 31.6 million votes.
Barbers maintained that public officials remain subject to constitutional accountability mechanisms when accused of impeachable offenses.
Photo courtesy of Inquirer.net
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