DAVAO CITY, Philippines — A Mindanao legal professionals’ group right here condemns the Senate’s transfer to remand the Article of Impeachment towards Vice President Sara Duterte to the Home of Representatives, saying it was meant to delay the pursuit of justice and accountability and a betrayal of the senate’s constitutional responsibility.
“This regressive transfer, coming after months of undue delay, gravely undermines the clear mandate of the Structure to make sure accountability from public officers and finally, subverts the general public’s proper to demand justice,” stated the Union of Peoples’ Attorneys in Mindanao (UPLM) in an announcement signed by Lawyer Antonio Azarcon, UPLM chair and Lawyer Arvin Dexter Lopoz, UPLM spokesperson.
“The Senate’s determination to remand the impeachment articles is a disingenuous maneuver that functionally dismisses the impeachment case againstVice President Duterte,” it added.
READ: Sara Duterte impeachment courtroom opens, however raps ‘remanded’ to Home
“It is a betrayal of its constitutional responsibility and a transparent try to protect a high-ranking official from accountability.”
In line with the group, the Structure “unequivocally instructions the Senate to forthwith proceed” with the trial upon transmission of the articles of impeachment by the Home of Representatives. “’Forthwith’ means immediately, instantly. This categorically implies that the impeachment trial should ensue,” stated the group’s assertion.
The legal professionals additionally identified that there was “no provision for the senate, sitting as impeachment courtroom, to ship again the articles or delay the proceedings primarily based on perceived “constitutional infirmities” that the legal professionals stated may “be addressed in the course of the trial itself.”
The group harassed that the impeachment course of is a cornerstone of the nation’s democratic system, that it was designed to carry the “highest” public officers accountable for culpable violation of the Structure, betrayal of public belief and different excessive crimes.
“By refusing to proceed with the trial, the senate just isn’t solely obstructing justice but additionally sending a harmful message that highly effective people can evade the constitutional mechanisms put in place to make sure their constancy to the folks,” the group stated.
The assertion additionally warned that such a transfer by the senate units a dangerous precedent, “additional weakening our establishments and eroding public belief within the rule of regulation,” the group stated.
UPLM referred to as on the Senate to rethink and reverse its determination.
“We strongly urge them to meet their constitutional mandate and proceed with the trial of Vice President Sara Duterte with none additional delay.”
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“The folks’s proper to demand accountability from their leaders should not be trampled upon by political maneuvering and self-serving pursuits,” the assertion added. /cb
