FAILURE to appear before the House Committee on Justice after being given the chance to do so effectively amounts to a waiver of the opportunity to answer the allegations in the impeachment proceedings against Vice President Sara Duterte, according to a vice chair of the panel.
Bukidnon Rep. Jonathan Keith Flores, vice chair of the House Committee on Justice, reiterated that point when asked if the non-appearance of the respondent could be treated as a waiver of the right to appear.
“Yes, yes,” Flores answered in a Bilyonaryo program interview.
He clarified that, for him, the due process issue is whether the respondent was given a chance to be heard, not if they used it.
“For as long as they were given the opportunity to be heard and they did not avail themselves of that opportunity,” Flores stressed.
That position goes to the center of the debate now surrounding the House proceedings, especially after Duterte’s camp skipped the hearing while continuing to challenge the legitimacy of the process outside the committee room.
Flores also pushed back on the suggestion that the House was forcing the respondent’s side to participate through subpoena, drawing a distinction between being invited to attend and the separate decision to summon individuals whom the committee believes may help clarify matters raised in the complaint.
“We’re inviting them. The one subpoenaed was, I think, Atty. [Michael] Poa. This is because one of the members believes he has something to contribute to the case. That’s why,” Flores explained.
He added that the move to subpoena Poa came from within the committee itself, after one member raised the need to hear from him as the panel continued examining the issues surrounding the case.
“That’s why he moved for it. I think it was. Who was it? I think Congressman [Antonio] Tinio ata,” Flores said.
As far as he knew, Flores said the list of persons subpoenaed was limited, and included Poa and officials connected to the Commission on Audit whose participation may help shed further light on matters already raised in the complaint.
“Only, I think, Atty. Poa ang naalam ko. And officers, pala. Ah, ‘yung sa COA. COA, pala. ‘Yung isang lawyer din from the COA,” Flores added.
