THE House Committee on Justice has moved the impeachment proceedings against Vice President Sara Duterte to what its chair described Thursday as the “third stage,” as the panel formally directed her to respond within a non-extendable 10-day period and reminded the public that the committee has a 60-session-day window to submit its report to the plenary.
Panel Chair Atty. Gerville “Jinky Bitrics” Luistro of Batangas City said the committee had already served notice to the Vice President after the panel found two impeachment complaints sufficient in form and substance.
“Kagaya po ng narinig nyo kahapon bago nag-adjourned ang Committee nag-issue na po tayo ng notice sa Vice President for her to file her answer to the two impeachment complaints sa loob po ng non-extendable period of 10 days,” Luistro said in a radio interview.
Luistro explained that the process has now entered a stage where the parties exchange pleadings and begin submitting evidence to the committee.
“Kamukha ng nasabi ko before, we call this responsive pleadings. Kaya responsive dahil nagsasagutan sila. Ito yung tinatawag na nating third stage. Lahat dokumento ang umaandar,” she said.
The committee chair also stressed that while calendar days apply to the filing of responsive pleadings, the rules set the broader deadline for the committee’s work in terms of session days.
“The only prescriptive period that was provided by the rules is the period of 60 session days within which the Justice Committee should be able to transmit the committee report to the plenary,” Luistro said.
She clarified the distinction when asked if the timeline was based on calendar days.
“No. This is session days. Ang nakita ko lang sa rules na calendar days ay iyong period ng filing ng responsive pleadings, the rest are session days,” Luistro said.
