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Manila 3rd district Rep. Joel Chua believes that the Supreme Court's (SC) decision to strike down the House of Representatives' impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte was ultimately a disservice to Filipinos.
"With the decision, the Filipino people were ultimately deprived of their right to due process," Chua, chairman of the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability, said in a statement Friday, Aug. 1.
"While we disagree with the [SC] decision, we do understand why the decision was written the way it is. The justices wanted to prevent any future abuse of the process," Chua said.
"However, the House of Representatives did not abuse the impeachment process now. [Or] did we deny the Vice President her due process rights in the Bill of Rights enshrined in the Constitution when the House chose to use the option of endorsement of the articles of impeachment by at least one-third of the members of the House," he insisted.
Last week, the high court ruled that the Feb. 5 impeachment complaint of the House against the Vice President violated the one-year bar rule.
With this technicality, the impeachment rap was deemed unconstitutional. All eyes are now on the Senate impeachment court as it is expected to convene for this the first time in the 20th Congress next week.
"I also point out that due process during the impeachment proceedings applies not only to the person or persons charged. Due process applies also to the plaintiff, the Filipino people, represented by the House of Representatives. Due process is also denied to the judges of the impeachment court because they were denied the opportunity to hear and consider the evidence of the House of Representatives," Chua said.
The impeachment articles--most notably the alleged misuse of P612.5 million worth of confidential funds--was based on the findings of an inquiry by the Chua-led good government panel during the previous 19th Congress.
