SAN Juan City Rep. Ysabel Maria Zamora on Saturday said the petition filed before the Supreme Court (SC) questioning the ongoing House impeachment hearings did not come as a surprise.
But Zamora, vice chair of the House Committee on Justice, said the petition lacks legal basis because the panel is simply following the Constitution, the rules of the House of Representatives, and the SC’s own directives.
Speaking at the Saturday News Forum in Quezon City, Zamora noted that the petition, though filed after the committee opened impeachment hearings, had clearly been prepared long before.
“Sa totoo lang po, we expected them to file this petition. Sabi nga natin, it exceeds 100 pages long. How can they have come up with a 100-plus-page petition in a few days right after we had our hearing in the Committee on Justice? So obviously matagal na itong pinaghandaan,” Zamora said.
Zamora said the legal challenge was also not new.
According to her, the same group had already questioned the impeachment process before the SC last year, when they argued that the filing and transmittal of the articles of impeachment to the Senate were unconstitutional.
“Last year po noong tayo ay sumabak po sa impeachment, sila po ay nag-question sa Korte Suprema. We stated that the way we filed the impeachment and transmitted the articles of impeachment to the Senate was unconstitutional. Dapat daw po hindi dumiretso doon. We bypassed rules. We did not obey the constitution. We did not obey the rules of the House of Representatives,” Zamora said.
Zamora said the SC, in its July decision, had already ruled on the issue and directed the House to observe due process and afford Duterte her constitutional rights through proceedings before the justice committee.
Zamora found it puzzling that the same process is now under attack.
“Kaya ngayon nagtataka kami na kung kailan sumusunod po kami sa desisyon ng Korte Suprema, kung kailan po bawat letra ng House Committee on Justice rules and the rules of impeachment of the House of Representatives, bawat letra po ay sinusunod namin, kinukwestiyon po na naman nila ito,” Zamora said.
Zamora said the House is only carrying out its constitutional duty.
“Sumusunod lang naman po kami sa aming tungkulin under the Constitution and as dictated by the Supreme Court in the decision in the Duterte case,” Zamora said.
