THE House Committee on Justice is set to deliberate on four impeachment complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte on March 2 to 4, initially to determine their sufficiency in form and substance.
The impeachment proceedings could shape how Filipinos decide in the 2028 presidential elections, said Batangas 2nd District Rep. Gerville Luistro, chairperson of the Justice committee.
“In these proceedings, we will talk on the issues being imputed against the Vice President. So, I think it’s possible that the judgment of the Filipino people on how they’re going to decide for the next Presidential election will be affected,” Luistro told reporters in an ambush interview.
At the same time, Luistro stressed that the committee would adhere strictly to established rules and timelines and would not allow political considerations to dictate the process.
“We are bound to finish in a period of 60-session days. Sixty session days for the Justice committee. So, I don’t think we will reach the filing of candidacy for next year,” Luistro said when asked whether the proceedings might stretch into the 2027 filing of certificates of candidacy.
“I always stick to the rules. We will be strictly following the rules. So, right now, I do not see any challenges. But initially, we stick to the determination of sufficiency in form. Having done that, we go to the next. That is the determination of sufficiency in substance,” she said.
Luistro added that the same parameters used in the previous impeachment proceedings against the President would apply.
“As I have said in the past interviews, whatever procedure, whatever parameter we use in the impeachment against the president, we will be adopting the same with respect to our impeachment process against the Vice President,” she said.
Pressed on whether Duterte’s perceived popularity as a potential 2028 contender could influence the committee’s assessment, Luistro said the outcome would depend on the evidence presented.
“It will depend on the progress of the hearing. It will depend on the evidence which will be established. But there is no ‘hard and fast’ (rule) really, that this will affect the popularity of the vice president. It depends on what will happen during sa hearing,” she said.
Earlier, Luistro announced that the four impeachment complaints have been referred to the Justice committee and that hearings would proceed even during recess if necessary.
“So initially, I wish to advance that we are inclined to continue the hearing even during recess. If we get to that point, yes, we will continue our deliberation even during the recess of the House,” she said.
The panel could not begin deliberations this week as it needed time to reproduce the complaints and distribute copies to all members.
“Of course, we cannot start this week as we wanted to take action right away because the Justice Committee needs to reproduce the complaints and provide copies to all the members,” Luistro said.
She clarified that while the four complaints would be tackled in a single impeachment proceeding, they would not be physically consolidated at the outset.
“For clarity, we will be deliberating on the four impeachment complaints in one impeachment proceeding. But as to the physical consolidation, that will happen only after we have determined the existence of probable cause,” she explained.
Luistro outlined a five-step process, beginning with the determination of sufficiency in form and sufficiency in substance.
“We will be determining sufficiency in form and substance on the entirety of the impeachment complaint. We will do the ddeliberation on a per complaint basis.
We will also tackle per ground, but votes will be based on the entirety of the impeachment complaint,” she said.
If a complaint passes both standards, the respondent will be given 10 calendar days to file an answer. The complainant may reply within three days, followed by a three-day period for the respondent’s rejoinder. The committee will then proceed to a hearing proper before voting on probable cause.
Luistro acknowledged that the proceedings could take longer than previous impeachment deliberations due to the number of complaints and grounds cited.
She noted that discussions would be conducted per complaint and per ground, with some grounds overlapping across the four filings.
