IPINAGTANGGOL ni Batangas Rep. Gerville “Jinky Bitrics” R. Luistro ang impeachment complaint laban kay Vice President Sara Duterte at iginiit na ito ay lehitimo at nakasunod sa kung ano ang nakasaad sa Konstitusyon.

“First, ang sabi po nila, we did not follow the rules on verification. It is clear in our Constitution that Congress shall promulgate its own rules on impeachment. And to be precise, we followed word for word the rules of the 19th Congress of the Philippines in as far as the verification is concerned,” pahayag ni Luistro, isa sa mga miyembro ng 11-man House prosecution panel, sa isang panayam sa telebisyon.

Bilang isang abogado, itinanggi ni Luistro ang mga alegasyon na may depekto sa verification process at sinabi na ito ay maayos na pinirmahan at sinuportahan ng 215 miyembro ng Kamara.

“Second, they also made mention that the verification was only inserted days after the filing in the Senate. Hindi po ito totoo. As a matter of fact, during the caucus, which is the same time when the 215 members of the House affixed their signatures, the verification page is already incorporated in the complaint. It was on the same day, it was on the same occasion kung saan nanumpa po ang ating mga kongresista kaugnay ng verification na kinakailangan dito sa impeachment complaint na ito,” paliwanag ni Luistro.

“Let us all be reminded, most of the grounds ay subject matter po ng investigation in the Quad Comm and even in the Committee on Good Government. I wish to share that as early as last year, when the three impeachment complaints were filed, nagkaroon na po ng individual evaluation ang ating mga congressman and it was because of the intercession of the political parties that made us team up with this fourth impeachment complaint to be able to catch up with the limited number of sessions that were remaining, saving the impeachment process from the alleged one-year prescription period,” dagdag pa niya.

“Ang sabi po nila the Vice President was denied due process, and we beg to disagree. As a matter of fact, a summons will be issued to her. He will be asked to answer, and she will be given time to present her evidence. This is what due process is all about,” aniya.

Bilang tugon sa mga akusasyon na nilabag ng reklamo ang one-year ban impeachment rule, nilinaw ni Luistro ang isyu sa pagsasabing, “and finally, about the one-year prohibition period. Ang sabi po ng batas, one impeachment only every year. It was not made mention that it should be resolved within the same year. In other words, in our humble opinion, ‘yun pong filed namin or even if we consider the first three impeachment complaints.”

Dagdag pa niya, hindi pormal na naipadala ang unang tatlong impeachment complaints sa Justice committee, kaya’t ang one-year bar ay magsisimula lamang sa Nobyembre 2025 kung iyon ang pagbabatayan, o Pebrero 2026 kung pagbabatayan ang pinagsamang ikaapat na reklamo.

“Although hindi naman po ito na-refer ng Office of the Secretary General. If we will be referring to the first three impeachment complaints, the one year prohibition will apply until November of 2025. But if we will be referring to the fourth impeachment complaint, which I believe is a consolidation of the three impeachment complaints, the prohibition period will take effect in February of 2026. ‘Yun pong sinasabing one year prohibition period, it means one year from the date of filing. It does not mean within the year the same was filed,” pagtatapos ni Luistro.