People, not Romualdez, pushed us to impeach VP Sara – solon
A lawmaker has clarified that he heeded the people’s voice in pushing for the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte, contrary to claims he and others are blindly following House of Representatives Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez. (VP Sara Duterte composite image from Inquirer, AP file photos)
MANILA, Philippines — A lawmaker has clarified that he heeded the people’s voice in pushing for the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte, contrary to claims he and others are blindly following House of Representatives Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez.
In an ambush interview on Wednesday, Manila 2nd District Rep. Rolando Valeriano said that he has neither met Romualdez personally nor discussed anything in private with him. He said that the only time they met was during plenary sessions.
According to Valeriano, his decision to support Duterte’s impeachment was dictated to him by the people in his district, adding that he might have lost in the 2025 midterm elections if he had not signed it.
“Never po, ako sa parte ko, bihirang-bihira kaming magkita ni Speaker. Actually, nagkita kami ni Speaker, dito lang sa plenary, never po kami nagkaka-usap ng personal,” Valeriano told reporters at the Batasang Pambansa complex.
(Never, on my part, it is rare for me and the Speaker to see each other. Actually, the Speaker and I meet only here in the plenary, we never spoke to each other personally.)
“Hindi ko po alam (where those accusations came from). Pero, as far as I am concerned, ‘yong move ko sa impeachment, yun ay ayon po sa dikta ng mga constituency ko,” he added. “Siguro kung mali ‘yong pirma ko ‘ron baka natalo ako no’ng nakaraang eleksyon.”
(I don’t know where those accusations came from. But as far as I am concerned, my move regarding the impeachment was dictated by my constituents. Maybe if I had not signed the impeachment complaint, I would have lost in the last elections.)
It was Senate President Francis Escudero who accused lawmakers of blindly following Romualdez, after he complained that House members are being too pushy — allegedly dictating to the Senate as to what should happen with Duterte’s impeachment trial.
According to Escudero, if it is the job of House lawmakers to follow Romualdez’s stand on the impeachment blindly, it is not his job as Senate President.
READ: Escudero slams solons for dictating how VP impeach trial should go
Bataan 1st District Rep. Geraldine Roman clarified that Romualdez has been quiet about the impeachment, even saying last Monday that it is up to the Senate to decide on its fate.
“Hindi niya (Romualdez) dinidiktahan, in fact he’s quite quiet pagdating d’yan sa stand namin sa impeachment case, the developments in the Senate. Yesterday malinaw ang sinabi ni Speaker Romualdez, antayin natin kung ano ang desisyon ng Senado, so I do not think merong basehan ang Senado ni SP Chiz Escudero with all due respect,” Roman said.
(He has not dictated things; in fact, he’s quite quiet when it comes to the impeachment case, the developments in the Senate. Yesterday, what the Speaker said was clear, that we should wait for the decision of the Senate, so I do not think there is a basis to what SP Chiz Escudero is saying, with all due respect.)
“Just follow the Constitution, wala namang nagsasabing dapat i-convict ang ating Vice President, wala namang nagsasabi na dapat i-acquit, but the impeachment case is already there, and we cannot pretend it does not exist. And more importantly, we cannot pretend that the Constitution mandates that the Senate should constitute itself as an impeachment court forthwith. Nag-aantay pa rin po kami,” she added.
(Just follow the Constitution, nobody is saying that you should convict the Vice President, or to acquit her, but the impeachment case is already there, and we cannot pretend it does not exist. And more importantly, we cannot pretend that the Constitution mandates that the Senate should constitute itself as an impeachment court forthwith. We are still waiting.)
READ: Sara Duterte impeachment now up to Senate – Romualdez
As early as last week, there have been concerns whether the impeachment would push through after Escudero rescheduled the presentation of the articles of impeachment.
Originally, Escudero sent a letter to Romualdez inviting the House prosecution panel to present the articles before the Senate plenary on Monday, June 2, and for the impeachment proceedings to start on Tuesday, June 3.
However, last Thursday, Escudero sent another letter to Romualdez, informing the House that the reading of the articles will be rescheduled to June 11. This will be the Senate’s last session day before the 19th Congress closes its session.
READ: Presentation of impeachment articles vs Sara Duterte moved to June 11
Fears over the possibility of the impeachment case against Duterte not pushing through intensified after sources revealed to 好色先生TV and other media outlets that a draft Senate resolution seeking to dismiss the impeachment raps against Duterte due to the lack of time circulated among some senators.
READ: Estrada confirms there’s a reso seeking to scrap Duterte’s impeachment trial
Several past and present House lawmakers believe that dismissing the impeachment complaint against Duterte through a mere Senate resolution will be unconstitutional, as the trial should be conducted first before judgment is made.
House prosecution member and Manila 3rd District Rep. Joel Chua said on Wednesday that he believes a possible resolution to dismiss the impeachment violates the 1987 Constitution, as senators should be mandated to hear the arguments from both the defense and the prosecution.
Chua’s fellow prosecution member, Batangas 2nd District Rep. Gerville Luistro, meanwhile, noted that the Constitution requires a trial before judgment is rendered.
READ: Dismissing Sara Duterte’s impeachment through Senate reso illegal – solons
Article XI, Section 3 of the 1987 Constitution gives the House the power to initiate all impeachment complaints against impeachable officers — the President, Vice President, members of the Supreme Court, Constitutional Commissions, and the Ombudsman.
The same section states that a Senate trial “shall forthwith proceed” if the verified impeachment complaint, contained in a resolution, is filed and signed by one-third of all House members.
With 306 members in the House, any impeachment resolution would need 102 signatures, which means this requirement was attained after 215 lawmakers signed the impeachment last February 5./coa
