Metro Manila, Philippines – Former lawmaker and fugitive Zaldy Co must return if he will testify in one of the impeachment complaints against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., a House official said.
Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro, who chairs the committee on justice, issued the position when asked about the possibility of Co as a witness in the impeachment proceedings against Marcos.
“It’s everybody’s right to testify for as long as he is willing to appear and to take his oath,” Luistro said in a forum on Saturday, Jan. 24, adding that all evidence supporting a complaint has to be sworn in before her panel.
When asked to clarify whether she means Co has to come home, Luistro answered: “Definitely.”
The group of former lawmaker Mike Defensor floated the plan of using Co as a witness in initiating Marcos’ ouster, citing Co’s alleged personal knowledge on the flood control corruption scandal as “very critical.”
Defensor said Co is willing to testify via video conference.
Luistro said she has not seen under the rules of the House of Representatives if this would be allowed.
“Ang nasa ilalim ng rules ng impeachment, dapat sa justice committee chair panunumpuan lahat ng affidavits and counter affidavits, and that includes the giving of testimony before the justice committee,” she said.
[Translation: Under the rules of impeachment, all affidavits and counter affidavits must be sworn before the justice committee chair, and that includes the giving of testimony before the justice committee.]
Co, who is believed to be in Portugal, has a standing arrest warrant for graft and non-bailable malversation cases over an alleged substandard P289.5-million flood control project in Oriental Mindoro.
Meanwhile, Luistro did not give an opinion on whether the impeachment complaints attempted to be filed by two groups on Thursday were already considered “rejected.”
The two complaints were from progressive coalition Bayan and endorsed by three Makabayan lawmakers, and from the group of Defensor and other Duterte allies but endorsers were not revealed.
Both were not officially received by the Office of the House Secretary General as only staff members were present and Cheloy Garafil was on official travel to Taiwan.
Luistro, however, believes the secretary general’s power in relation to the filing and referral of impeachment complaints were ministerial.
“As to how she will discharge this function, given the set of facts that she is on official travel, let us leave that to the exclusive discharge of the secretary general,” the lawmaker said.
The first complaint was filed on Monday by lawyer Andre de Jesus and was backed by Pusong Pinoy party-list Rep. Jernie Nisay, a House deputy minority who is also dragged into the flood control mess.
The document has been transmitted to the Office of the House Speaker.
