REELECTED Manila 6th District Representative Bienvenido “Benny” Abante Jr. on Tuesday joined calls for the Senate to immediately proceed with the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, citing the absence of a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) from the Supreme Court (SC).
In a press conference Tuesday, Abante echoed the view of his colleagues Manila Rep. Joel Chua and Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon that the Senate should not hold off the impeachment trial any longer especially since the SC has not issued any hold order.
“Yes, I do (share their sentiment)…Buong-buo ang kumpyansa namin… na legal, makatarungan at naaayon sa konstitusyon ang proseso ng impeachment. Hindi na po dapat i-delay ito. Hindi ito gawa-gawang reklamo,” Abante said.
The SC, in its July 8 resolution, decided that pending petitions related to the impeachment of VP Duterte be consolidated, directing Congress to provide a comprehensive set of documents and explanations under oath. It did not issue a TRO suspending proceedings.
Abante said the prosecutors are very much prepared to present their evidence backing the Articles of Impeachment against VP Duterte.
“Kahit hindi ako kasama sa prosecution team, naniniwala ako na ang prosecutors natin handang-handa na ilabas lahat ng mga dokumento laban sa ating Vice President. Sapagkat inimbestigahan po yan ng Quad Committee, inimbestigahan (yan) ng Committee on Good Government, nakita po natin lahat yan. (Sa) public na-release po yan. Kaya’t ang pagsasampa ng kasong impeachment laban sa Vice President ay hindi isang desisyon na minadali,” Abante said.
The fact that 215 House members signed the Articles of Impeachment means that the position of the majority is very clear, according to Abante.
“Malinaw ang pananaw ng majority ng mga congressmen. Kailangang managot ang sinumang lumabag sa tiwala ng bayan kahit siya ang pangalawang pangulo pa ng Pilipinas,” he said.
Abante also underscored that the Senate cannot just dismiss outright the impeachment process as it would be against the Constitution.
“Hindi naman nila pwedeng i-dismiss yung impeachment. I believe that the impeachment process, according to the Constitution, must go on. They just cannot dismiss it. Even Sen. Ping Lacson said that. Hindi pwedeng i-dismiss ang impeachment process ng Senado,” he said.
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