Makabayan asks Zubiri: If it’s a witch-hunt, who’s the witch?

If it is a witch hunt, who is the witch? The Makabayan bloc in the House of Representatives, particularly ACT Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio, posed this question in reaction to Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri’s statements on Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial. (VP Sara Duterte impeachment composite image from Inquirer files)

MANILA, Philippines — If it is a witch-hunt, who is the witch?

The Makabayan bloc in the House of Representatives, particularly ACT Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio, posed this question in reaction to Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri’s statements on Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial.

During an interview on Tuesday at the Batasang Pambansa complex, Tinio and Kabataan party-list Rep. Renee Co were asked about Zubiri’s claims that the House’s decision to impeach the vice president is a mere witch-hunt because some people just want her removed from her post.

“Witch-hunt?  Who is he calling a witch?  That’s bad,” Tinio said in a mix of English and Filipino.

Co, meanwhile, urged the Senate impeachment court to just proceed with the trial and stop “delaying tactics.”

“There is no witch-hunt, in fact what happened is that we want to get the witch of the south to explain where she took the confidential funds, but she does not want to answer our questions that’s why we brought this up to an impeachment trial so that we will know the truth there,” Co said.

“So our call to the Senate is, let us stop these delaying tactics and start with the impeachment trial, start it so that we will know where the taxpayers’ money went,” she said.

Zubiri’s statements came after he said that Duterte’s trial must proceed because the 1987 Constitution states so.

However, in the process of clarifying, Zubiri also said that personally he thinks it is a witch-hunt on Duterte because people want “to remove her from public service” so that others will sit on the vice presidential post, or to eliminate opponents for the 2028 presidential race.

Eventually, Zubiri said that he would set aside his biases and follow the process stated in the Constitution.

Earlier, prosecution team member and Iloilo 3rd District Rep. Lorenz Defensor said that senator-judges in Duterte’s impeachment trial should receive and discuss the evidence first before even labeling it a witch-hunt.

According to Defensor, such statements are “unbecoming” of senator-judges who are expected to be impartial and neutral.

READ: Rep. Defensor slams witch-hunt claims in Sara Duterte’s impeach trial 

In a separate interview, former senator and now Mamamayang Liberal party-list Rep. Leila de Lima said that it was she and not Vice President Duterte who was subjected to a witch-hunt when the past administration filed “trumped-up cases” against her.

De Lima believes there is no witch-hunt because the complaint against Duterte had different bases, unlike in her case, where complaints were filed just because she opposed the administration of Duterte’s father, former President Rodrigo Duterte.

“So, witch-hunt is off the question here, you talk about which-hunt if there is no basis.  You can say that with what they did to me during the past administration, as trumped-up bogus charges were filed against me.  That is the witch-hunt, kangaroo hearing, remember that?  The justice committee hearing here in the House,” she said.

READ: Leila De Lima says it was she who was subjected to ‘witch-hunt’ 

In February, Duterte was impeached after 215 lawmakers filed and signed the fourth impeachment complaint against her, which was based on allegations of confidential fund misuse within her offices, threats to ranking officials, and other possible violations of the Constitution.

The articles of impeachment were immediately forwarded to the Senate on the same day, as the 1987 Constitution requires a trial to start forthwith if at least one-third of all House members, or just 102 out of 306, have signed and endorsed the petition.

READ: House impeaches Sara Duterte, fast-tracking transmittal to Senate

But during the election season break, the impeachment trial did not start as the articles of impeachment were not brought up to the Senate plenary before the chamber adjourned its session./coa