2nd impeachment rap vs VP Duterte cites 1 ground for quicker talks

Vice President Sara Duterte

MANILA, Philippines — The second impeachment complaint that progressive groups will file against Vice President Sara Duterte cites only one ground, the betrayal of public trust, to ensure a quicker discussion and focus on her alleged misdeeds, one of the petitioners said.

In an interview on Wednesday, former lawmaker and now Bayan Muna chairperson Neri Colmenares was asked why the second impeachment complaint only focused on one of the six grounds mentioned under Article XI of the 1987 Constitution.

Colmenares explained that he and the other complainants focused on the betrayal of public trust as it may be one of the gravest grounds for impeachment.

“Betrayal of public trust constitutes various offenses, including violation of the Revised Penal Code. We have focused on betrayal of public trust because it is all-encompassing and it is the fastest way to resolve the case,” he said in Filipino.

“But more than just the mere grounds, we know that for the citizens the betrayal of public trust is a very important issue,” he added. “And that is for us, one of the highest if not the highest treachery ng isang public official.”

Advance copies of the second impeachment complaint that will be filed on Wednesday afternoon showed that betrayal of public trust allegedly stemmed from the Vice President supposedly making a mockery of audit processes and her refusal to recognize Congress’ oversight during budget deliberations.

Section 2 of the Article XI provides that the following grounds for impeachment may be cited by complainants:

• Culpable violation of the Constitution
• Treason
• Bribery
• Graft and corruption
• Other high crimes
• Betrayal of public trust

READ: After impeachment rap filed vs VP Duterte, what’s next?

The Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd), which Duterte previously headed, have been the subject of a House investigation due to questions on how their CFs were utilized.

Some of the revelations were the acknowledgment receipts (ARs) for the CFs signed by a certain “Mary Grace Piattos” whom Antipolo 2nd District Rep. Romeo Acop said has a first name similar to a coffee shop and a last name that is a famous potato chip brand.

The ARs signed off by Piattos were part of the liquidation reports discussed during the hearing on the P23.8 million in CFs covered by 158 receipts.

READ: P1-M reward for information on Mary Grace Piattos – House lawmakers

On Tuesday, the Philippine Statistics Authority confirmed that the name Mary Grace Piattos does not appear on their live birth, marriage, and death registry.

READ: ‘Mary Grace Piattos’ does not exist, PSA confirms

Prior to this, Duterte already attracted controversy as she refused to address CF-related questions at budget deliberations last August 27 directly. In the subsequent hearing, Duterte and OVP representatives did not attend, which Kabataan party-list Rep. Raoul Manuel believes is tantamount to betrayal of public trust.

READ: Sara Duterte, OVP rep no-show yet at House plenary debate on budget

The first impeachment complaint was filed on December 2 and was endorsed by Akbayan party-list Rep. Percival Cendeña.

READ: First impeachment complaint vs VP Sara filed at House

According to former Senator Leila de Lima, who accompanied the complainants, among the articles of impeachment cited in the first complaint were Duterte’s alleged CF misuse, threats to ranking government officials, and her supposed involvement in extrajudicial killings when she was Davao City mayor.

READ: De Lima: Fund misuse, threats among grounds for impeaching VP Duterte