Sara camp won’t attend impeach plenary deliberations

MANILA, Philippines — The camp of Vice President Sara Duterte will just remotely monitor the plenary deliberations tomorrow at the House of Representatives, as lawmakers are set to vote on whether to impeach the VP a second time.

In an interview with radio dzMM, Michael Poa, spokesman of the 16-member defense team of Duterte, said the lawyers will not be physically present during the plenary debate of the impeachment.

“Well, for us, we will just be monitoring on Monday. We don’t want to speculate on how many votes or if they will get one-third or not,” he said.

If at least 106 of the 318 House members vote to impeach the Vice President, the Articles of Impeachment are automatically transmitted to the Senate for trial.

The House justice committee report consolidated two verified complaints of Fr. Joel Saballa and lawyer Nathaniel Cabrera, and outlined multiple grounds for impeachment, including culpable violation of the 1987 Constitution, bribery, graft and corruption, betrayal of public trust and other high crimes.

Poa gave assurance that Duterte will participate in the impeachment trial at the Senate.

Meanwhile, Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson said he will oppose any moves to block the Senate from convening as an impeachment court. — Marc Jayson Cayabyab