House hands off on VP's kill threat vs Marcoses

The House of Representatives will handle the impeachment cases filed against Vice President Sara Duterte, while her "kill threat" against President Marcos will be handled by the Department of Justice (DOJ).

- By DELON PORCALLA

Administration Reps. Geraldine Roman and Jude Acidre made the distinction over the weekend, saying House members will oversee impeachment complaints filed by progressive groups against Duterte, as prosecutors from the DOJ evaluate her criminal liability on her threat against Marcos, First Lady Liza Marcos and his cousin, Speaker Martin Romualdez.

"That (criminal liability) is a totally separate and independent process. We have our own separate functions or jobs to do. Insofar as we are concerned, we have a mandate to process this impeachment complaint," Roman, House committee on women and gender equality chairperson, said.

Roman underscored the need for key government agencies to work independently of each other, but with utmost transparency as a matter of policy.

"We're not the ones who are going to tell the justice department to do their work. We should let our government agencies do their work freely, independently, with transparency, with honesty,” the Bataan lawmaker added.

Acidre of Tingog party-list said, “It is very important for people to know the difference between the processes of the DOJ and those that we do here in Congress. The DOJ has a separate process as it is under the executive department, where their mandate involves the determination of criminal liability.

“Whereas in the impeachment process here in the lower chamber of Congress, this is a politically legislative procedure,” he explained further.

The impeachment complaints filed by civil society and religious groups last week accuse Duterte of culpable violations to the 1987 Constitution, graft and corruption, bribery, betrayal of public trust and high crimes.

Among these allegations are the reported death threats she supposedly made against President Marcos and Romualdez.