THE House Committee on Justice is set to tackle one of the most explosive charges in the impeachment complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte on April 29, next Wednesday.
This includes her alleged grave threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez.
Justice Committee Chairperson and Batangas Rep. Atty. Gerville Luistro said that the next hearing will delve into the National Bureau of Investigation’s (NBI) probe and documentary evidence on the alleged death threats Duterte made in November 2024.
“We are inclined to proceed to the presentation of evidence in support of the allegations of threat. As a matter of fact, yesterday (Wednesday), nag-issue tayo ng subpoena to the NBI, as well as duces tecum to bring all digital and documentary evidence pertaining to the allegations of threat,” Luistro said in an interview.
“That is because we are really intending to conduct a clarificatory hearing on the allegations of threat. This will be happening on April 29,” she added.
Before suspending the April 22 hearing, the justice committee granted a motion to issue subpoenas for the NBI to present its findings on the vice president’s alleged threats.
Unlike the first two hearings, the April 29 session will only have the NBI as its sole resource person, Luistro said. Since there would be a less packed agenda, she mentioned that the committee is likely to vote that same day on whether probable cause exists for each allegation in the two impeachment complaints.
“So we anticipate na at the end of the hearing on April 29, the justice members will proceed to vote on the determination of probable cause,” Luistro said.
She further stressed that the grave threats allegation is the last of the charges in the impeachment complaints to be examined, noting that no Justice committee member has so far requested additional hearing dates, which she believes suggests the panel is satisfied with the three sessions scheduled.
Before voting, however, Luistro also said that the committee will first need to decide whether to unseal the tax records of Duterte and her husband, Atty. Manases Carpio, as submitted by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).
“We need to vote whether or not we will open [the sealed box] because we cannot terminate the proceedings of the Justice committee with a matter left pending,” she noted.
Should the committee vote to keep the BIR records sealed, Luistro said she would suggest transmitting them to the Senate as is, leaving it to the upper chamber to determine whether it has the jurisdiction and legal authority to open them as an impeachment court. This, she stressed, would only apply if the committee first votes in favor of probable cause.
“But in the event that we will not open the sealed box, I think I will be suggesting to the committee that we just transmit it to the Senate even if it is sealed. So we will leave it up to the Senate kung anong magiging position nila about that. That is on the assumption that the Justice members will vote in favor of the probable cause,” she said.
The Committee on Justice deferred on Wednesday the disclosure of Duterte and Carpio’s income tax returns after encountering a legal obstacle where the tax code specifically limits the release of such records to Congress only upon request during inquiries in aid of legislation and in executive session.