Bicol Saro party-list Rep. Terry Ridon (left) and Vice President Sara Duterte (right) INQUIRER FILE PHOTOS
Impeachment prosecutor and House committee on public accounts chairperson Terry Ridon of Bicol Saro Party-list said Wednesday that Congress is not delaying the impeachment proceedings.
He stressed that the House is ensuring the proper reproduction and verification of the articles of impeachment before transmitting them to the Senate.
“The House is doing this to ensure that the lower chamber properly and correctly carries out all due process requirements concerning the vice president and the entire process,” he said in Filipino.
Ridon issued the statement in response to criticism from Senator Imee Marcos, who accused the House of delaying the impeachment trial against Vice President Sara Duterte by citing the reproduction of “voluminous documents” as the reason for the delay.
She claimed that the House has enough staff to reproduce the documents and transmit the articles without taking several days.
The Senate leadership changed on the same day Duterte was impeached for the second time on May 11, with the majority now composed mostly of Duterte-aligned senators led by Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano.
While acknowledging Marcos’ concerns regarding the transmittal of the articles of impeachment, Ridon emphasized that the current proceedings differ from the first impeachment complaint, which was transmitted to the Senate on the same day Duterte was first impeached on February 5, 2025.
“We respect Senator Imee Marcos’ view on the transmittal of the articles of impeachment, but we need to clarify that the situation last year is different from the current impeachment against the vice president,” he said in Filipino.
According to Ridon, the current impeachment proceedings followed the first mode of impeachment under House rules, in which complaints were filed and referred to the committee on justice. The committee then conducted clarificatory hearings and gathered documentary evidence and witness testimonies before finding probable cause to pursue impeachment.
“It went through the House committee on justice, which conducted hearings and gathered documents and evidence. So rightfully, the documents and evidence we are dealing with are much thicker and longer,” he said in Filipino.
House Secretary General Cheloy Garafil said Tuesday night that the Secretariat is still reproducing copies of the impeachment documents for submission to the Senate.
She explained that the process is taking several days because the articles and supporting attachments span thousands of pages and are being thoroughly checked to ensure the accuracy of the House’s submission.
Ridon also said the House is exercising additional caution in handling the impeachment proceedings in light of the Supreme Court’s new guidelines after it voided the first impeachment complaint.
He further stressed that neither the Constitution nor the House rules on impeachment proceedings require the articles of impeachment to be transmitted to the Senate on the same day as the impeachment vote.
“Finally, there is nothing in the Constitution or in the impeachment rules of Congress and the Senate stating that the transmittal must happen on the same day as the impeachment vote in the House,” he said in Filipino.
“So the House will strive to transmit the articles of impeachment to the Senate at the earliest possible time so the Senate can also convene as an impeachment court at the soonest possible time,” he added.
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Your subscription has been successful.
The House voted Monday to impeach Duterte for the second time, with 257 lawmakers voting in favor of sending the case to trial, while 25 voted against the measure and nine abstained.
