Courtesy: Office of Akbayan Rep Chel Diokno
A LAWMAKER on Wednesday warned during the House Committee on Justice hearing that Vice President Sara Z. Duterte cannot avoid impeachment by invoking her role as Secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd).
During deliberations on the impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte, Akbayan Rep. Chel Diokno rejected arguments that actions taken while serving as education secretary fall outside the scope of impeachment proceedings.
“While I continue to respect Congressman Rufus Rodriguez despite his comments about law deans, I have to disagree with his argument,” Diokno said during the hearing.
Diokno, former dean of the De La Salle University’s College of Law, said drawing a distinction between the vice president’s constitutional office and her Cabinet position would undermine accountability.
“If we carry that argument to its logical conclusion, it would mean, for example, that if a vice president were to attend a function as Secretary of Education where the president was also present, and then, let’s say, hypothetically, were to brandish a firearm or even discharge it at the president, then does that mean that she cannot be impeached?” he said.
He added that the same reasoning could create a loophole shielding serious crimes.
“That would mean that the Vice President could easily hide behind that distinction and commit plunder, commit other high crimes as Secretary of Education, and there would be no accountability,” Diokno said.
Other lawmakers echoed the position that the impeachment proceedings are directed at the vice president as a constitutional official, regardless of her Cabinet role.
ACT Party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio told the committee the proceedings are not directed at the education secretary as a separate office.
“We are not impeaching the DepEd Secretary which would be absurd, but the Vice President carrying out her function as a member of the Cabinet as provided for in the Constitution as DepEd Secretary,” Tinio said.
“Yun po ang ginagawa natin dito kaya nasa jurisdiction po ‘yan ng komite,” he added.
The hearing forms part of the committee’s deliberations on whether the impeachment complaints against Duterte are sufficient in substance, a key step before the panel determines whether the case should advance further in the constitutional impeachment process.
