HOUSE Deputy Speaker Albee Benitez of Bacolod City said Thursday he expects more than 215 lawmakers to vote in favor of sending the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Z. Duterte to the Senate for trial, with support now spanning nearly all political parties in the chamber.
“I think it will probably be more,” Benitez said in an interview on Bilyonaryo News Channel’s “On Point”.
Earlier this week, Committee on Public Accounts Chair Terry Ridon of Bicol Saro Party-list said at least 215 lawmakers had already expressed support during consultations for the impeachment of the vice president, citing new and compelling evidence presented during the Committee on Justice’s clarificatory hearings.
Benitez said more lawmakers have become supportive of the impeachment after the House undertook a more comprehensive and careful review of the complaints and evidence, which even strictly followed the Supreme Court’s ruling and interpretation of impeachment rules.
This, he pointed out, differed from the first impeachment bid against Duterte, when the fourth complaint was immediately transmitted to the Senate after securing the endorsement of at least one-third of House members. At the time, a supermajority of 215 lawmakers in the 19th Congress backed the vice president’s impeachment.
“215 the first one. But hindi dumaan kasi ng Justice committee ‘yun. It went straight to the plenary. So now, there’s been more hearings conducted and I think there’s a lot of us who think it should go to trial,” Benitez said.
The deputy speaker said the evidence presented during the impeachment proceedings had been persuasive enough for the Committee on Justice to unanimously find probable cause and approve the committee report for plenary consideration.
“Well, I think, judging from my colleagues, more and more are being convinced that the evidence are strong. And remember, it’s probable cause. It’s really not to determine whether it’s guilty or not,” he said.
Benitez also stressed that lawmakers are increasingly concerned about long-unanswered questions on the source and movement of the vice president’s funds, as well as alleged discrepancies and undeclared assets in her Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs).
“Ang daming tanong kasi that needs to be answered that was never answered. And for example, where did the money come from? Where did the money go? Why is there discrepancy or unreported SALN assets?” he said.
“And that’s the reason why I think my colleagues have seen this and through the Committee of Justice prodding and finding out all of this information. Marami talaga na-convince na siguro dapat ipadala na sa Senate for trial,” he added.
For Benitez, the strongest evidence against the vice president relates to the alleged hidden and unexplained wealth reflected in her Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs). He described the SALN as “the holy grail for transparency and accountability.”
The Justice committee found that Duterte and her husband did not explicitly disclose their cash on hand and bank deposits for six consecutive years starting in 2019. It also noted that the vice president’s SALNs do not match the P6.77 billion worth of covered and suspicious transactions that allegedly flowed through their bank accounts since 2006.
Despite these findings, there has been no clear and active effort to fully investigate the billions in transactions or the vice president’s SALNs over the past years. For this reason, Benitez said he will file a bill aimed at strengthening the SALN system as a tool for holding public officials accountable.
“So this impeachment should not be about personality, should not be about politics. It should be about governance. And I’m filing a bill to strengthen SALN, to be a basis for holding public officials accountable. If we don’t do that, people get away with it,” he said.
Benitez also said that the numbers to impeach the vice president will be there because support is spread across parties. “Almost all parties will be voting,” he said. “That’s how you get the number. You won’t be able to get that number if it’s not across multi-parties.”
Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong of Lakas-CMD said around 60 of the party’s 69 members are in favor of the impeachment, while Deputy Speaker Ronaldo Puno of the National Unity Party said about 30 of its 55 members are expected to vote “yes”. For the party-list coalition in the House, Tingog Party-list Rep. Jude Acidre said it is likely to deliver 47 of 60 votes.
While some groups have claimed there is pressure from other political parties to vote in favor of the impeachment, Benitez dismissed these assertions, saying there is no arm-twisting involved.
“They might make it appear that may pressure from the parties, may arm-twisting. So, hindi ganun ang nangyari. And, in fact, as I’ve said, nag-secret balloting pa nga, just to be on the safe side. And still, the majority of the members voted for the impeachment,” he said.
Benitez also said he has urged his colleagues to take a clear position on the impeachment, stressing that abstaining or being absent during the plenary vote amounts to the same thing. “I keep telling all my colleagues, just do what you think is right. Because at the end of the day, that’s the only thing that will count.”
The plenary is expected to vote on the articles of impeachment on May 11, after members were given roughly five days to review the documents and the supporting evidence. “There’s been enough time. There’s been based on the process and the rules. It should be ready by Monday,” he added.
