Romer Butuyan 
MARIING kinastigo ni House trial spokesperson at Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong ang patuloy na pag-iwas ni Vice President Sara Duterte na direktang sagutin ang mga kinakaharap na alegasyon — kabilang ang isinumiteng tugon sa writ of summon na ipinalabas ng Senate impeachment court.
Sa kanyang pagdalo sa Kapihan sa Manila Bay, sinabi ni Alonto Adiong na taliwas sa inaasahan ng House prosecution panel ang inihaing ‘answer’ ng nasasakdal sa kinakaharap na Articles of Impeachment.
“But what we didn’t expect is that the answers are still the same. It’s a non-answer to the articles of impeachment because they’ve been publicly questioning the process by which even the Supreme Court has already laid down guidelines,” pahayag ng Lanao del Sur lawmaker.
Giit ni Alonto Adiong, sa desisyon ng Supreme Court (SC), sa Duterte v. House of Representatives, ay pinagtibay ng high tribunal ang exclusive power ng Kamara na pasimulan ang impeachment proceedings.
Paalala niya, ang House Committee on Justice ay nagsagawa ng “extensive proceedings” para mabatid kung ang mga reklamo laban sa bise presidente ay suportado ng matibay na ebidensya at sapat na dahilan para sa angkop na paglilitis.
“What we’ve seen during the course of the confirmation hearings of the Justice Committee acting like a preliminary investigation is to set the tone whether these allegations contained in the complaints have backing, have material evidence to prove that indeed there is a probable cause,” ayon pa sa Mindanaoan solon.
“But the defense, parati po nilang sinasabi, despite the fact that they’ve been invited several times during the entire confirmation hearings, hindi po sila sumulpot,” dugtong niya.
Ani Alonto Adiong, makikitang ang nais ng defense team na agad ipawalang-saysay ng Senate impeachment court ang kaso nang hindi man lamang sinasagot ang merito nito.
“So what they intend to actually achieve is for the impeachment court to dismiss the impeachment complaints, which I believe the Senate acting as impeachment court has no option to do that under the Constitution once they have taken jurisdiction and assumed jurisdiction over these complaints,” pahayag niya.
“The Senate need not to do anything other than to reach a decision whether to acquit or to convict the respondent, in this case the Vice President.”
