Metro Manila, Philippines – A House justice committee member said a one-third vote to impeach Vice President Sara Duterte is “within reach.”
At a news forum in Quezon City on Saturday, May 2, panel member Bicol Saro Rep. Terry Ridon noted that the justice panel alone already gathered 53 votes to find probable cause to unanimously move the impeachment.
Out of more than 300 House members, Ridon said reaching the constitutional one-third vote threshold is “well within reach.”
“Tingin ko naman (I do think so), that is a number that will not be difficult to surmount,” he said.
Ridon said the Justice panel is set to approve on Monday its committee report containing the final consolidated Articles of Impeachment, as well as the corresponding resolution.
He said the first order of business is to secure approval at the plenary before any move to constitute the prosecution panel.
“As soon as it is approved at the committee level, it will go to plenary by next week. So pagdedebatehan na po ‘yan (they will debate on it) at the level of the plenary,” Ridon said.
“As soon as we are done po at the level of plenary, I think within two weeks we can transmit to the Senate,” he added.
Ridon said lawmakers will ultimately decide “based on their conscience and the evidence presented,” but said that the case itself is “enough to convince members.”
In a unanimous vote on April 29, the House justice committee found probable cause for the impeachment complaints against Duterte to proceed to the next stage.
The panel will next submit a committee report to plenary, which will decide whether or not to impeach the vice president and send the Articles of Impeachment to the Senate for trial.
Duterte has skipped all impeachment hearings in the House panel and insisted that she will answer to allegations in the Senate as it convenes as a trial court.
