HOUSE Assistant Majority Leader Zia Alonto Adiong of Lanao del Sur on Wednesday said Sen. Imee Marcos was beginning to sound “more like a member of Vice President Sara Z. Duterte’s defense team than an impartial senator-judge,” citing her repeated attacks against the House of Representatives and her continuing attempts to cast doubt on the impeachment process.
“Instead of preparing to objectively evaluate the evidence once the impeachment trial begins, Senator Imee Marcos appears to have already taken a partisan position by constantly attacking the House, questioning motives, and advancing narratives favorable to the Vice President,” Alonto Adiong, who chairs the House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms, said.
“A senator-judge is expected to approach an impeachment trial with sobriety, fairness, and restraint. But what the public is seeing are repeated statements that sound less like judicial impartiality and more like advance talking points for the defense,” he added.
Alonto Adiong particularly rejected Marcos’ claim that the House was deliberately delaying the transmittal of impeachment records to the Senate.
“The Articles of Impeachment are not a one-page resolution that can simply be stapled and handed over in an afternoon. These involve thousands of pages of annexes, transcripts, certifications, sworn statements, financial records, and documentary evidence that must be reproduced completely and accurately,” he said.
“This is not political theater. This is a constitutional process that requires precision, completeness, and due diligence. Would the senator prefer incomplete records and defective transmittals, only to later question the integrity of the process herself?” he added.
Alonto Adiong stressed that the House was ensuring that all records transmitted to the Senate would be orderly, complete, and beyond legal challenge.
“We cannot trivialize due process simply to satisfy media sound bites or artificial political timelines,” he said.
The House leader also disputed Marcos’ repeated insinuations that lawmakers were motivated by monetary considerations, projects, or political favors in approving the impeachment complaint.
“For weeks now, Senator Imee Marcos has been training her guns on the House of Representatives, casually throwing around allegations of bribery, rewards, and political maneuvering tied to the impeachment vote. Yet up to now, she has not presented a single affidavit, witness, document, or admissible evidence to support these accusations,” Alonto Adiong said.
“Madaling magbato ng paratang sa media. Mas mahirap patunayan iyon sa ilalim ng panunumpa,” he added.
He said reducing the overwhelming impeachment vote into allegations of bribery and political favors was unfair both to lawmakers and to the millions of Filipinos they represent.
“To casually suggest that more than 250 lawmakers abandoned their conscience and constitutional duty in exchange for favors is deeply irresponsible and insulting not only to Congress, but also to the Filipino people who elected us,” Alonto Adiong said.
“The Constitution does not suspend accountability during difficult times. In fact, accountability becomes even more important when Filipinos are suffering because every peso of public funds matters more,” Alonto Adiong added.
