BACOLOD City — All 12 members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines from the Negros Island Region (NIR) voted in favor of the impeachment ofVice President Sara Duterte-Carpio after the House approved the Articles of Impeachment and transmitted the complaint to the Senate for trial.
The NIR lawmakers were among the 257 members of the House who voted to endorse the impeachment complaint.
The complaints cited four major grounds: alleged culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust over the supposed misuse of confidential funds, unexplained wealth, bribery and graft and corruption, and grave threats or conspiracy to commit murder.
Those from Negros Occidental who voted in favor were Julio ‘Jules’ Ledesma IV, Alfredo Marañon III, Javier Miguel Benitez, Jeffrey Ferrer, Emilio Bernardino Yulo, and Mercedes Alvarez-Lansang.
Also voting in favor were Alfredo Abelardo Benitez and Manuel Frederick Ko.
From Negros Oriental, the lawmakers who supported the impeachment were Emmanuel Iway, Ma. Isabel Sagarbarria, and Janice Degamo. Zaldy Villa also voted in favor.
Meanwhile, House Deputy Speaker Benitez denied allegations that lawmakers were offered financial incentives in exchange for supporting the impeachment complaint.
In a media interview, Benitez said he had no knowledge of any arrangement in which members of Congress were allegedly promised funding for their districts in return for backing the complaint.
“Wala akong natanggap, wala akong narinig, walang nagsabi sa akin ng ganyan,” Benitez said.
He stressed that he neither received nor was approached regarding any alleged offer connected to the impeachment vote and urged the public to rely on verified information when discussing the issue.
In a separate statement, the defense counsel for Vice President Duterte-Carpio said they are prepared to face the impeachment proceedings before the Senate, which will sit as an impeachment court.
The statement said the burden rests on the accusers to prove the allegations in accordance with the Constitution, existing laws and the rules of evidence.
“While questions of constitutional significance remain pending before the Supreme Court, we are fully prepared to defend the Vice President before the Senate sitting as an Impeachment Court, where it is incumbent upon the Prosecution to discharge the burden of proof,” the statement read./PN
