THE House of Representatives can aid in addressing the country’s urgent concerns while still carrying out its constitutional duty to hear the impeachment complaints against Vice President Sara Z. Duterte, according to a member of the House Committee on Justice, who rejected the argument that the ongoing energy crisis should push the proceedings aside.
House Assistant Majority Leader Zia Alonto Adiong, chair of the House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms, said the country’s present difficulties do not erase the obligation of the House to act on complaints properly filed and endorsed under the Constitution.
“There are pressing concerns facing the country that can be addressed more effectively by properly compartmentalizing how they are handled,” Adiong said.
He pointed out that the national government is already taking steps to respond to the fallout from the global crisis linked to the conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran, and that those actions can proceed alongside the impeachment process.
“Sa ngayon, the President already declared a state of (energy emergency). In fact, mayroon na na-create na UPLIFT na committee that will discuss on how we can respond with the effects of the global crisis brought about by the ongoing clash between the United States, Israel, and Iran,” Adiong noted.
He said there is no reason for the House to abandon or suspend a constitutional mandate simply because the country is also confronting a separate emergency.
“And so, there are proper way to address that without necessarily surrendering or bypassing the constitutional mandate that is given to the House. Remember, the complaints are filed by private citizens, endorsed by some members of the House. So while there is really that ongoing crisis, mayroon naman ginawa ang ating pamahalaan,” Adiong stressed.
Adiong added that the House itself has already acted on measures meant to cushion the effects of rising fuel prices and the broader economic strain linked to imported petroleum, which he said shows Congress is capable of dealing with more than one major issue at a time.
“In fact, the House of Representatives also approved the suspension of the excise tax in order to alleviate the effects not only on the energy sector, but there are also other sectors that are relying on the imported petroleum in order to operate and do business within a certain sectors, hindi lang sa energy, but the transportation, medicine, etc,” he stressed.
“So there is, in fact, that action being taken by the government to specifically address this issue. We can do, sabi nga, we can do multi-tasking,” Adiong explained.
For Adiong, the larger point is that public officials cannot use a crisis as a justification for ignoring complaints that the House is duty-bound to hear under the Constitution.
“Pwede naman sabay. Yes, there is really that crisis, but that cannot be used as a reason to turn a blind eye on the complaints that have been filed by private citizens and automatically drop or suspend the constitutional mandate of the House of Representatives to hear these complaints,” Adiong argued.
