MANILA, Philippines – Itinanggi ni Senate impeachment court spokesperson Reginald Tongol ang tila pag-aabogado kay Vice President Sara Duterte.
ito ay kasunod ng akusasyon ni House prosecution panel spokesperson Antonio Bucoy na nagbibigay ng suhestyon si Tongol ng legal na estratehiya para kay Duterte matapos nitong sabihin na: “If I were the vice president, I will file a motion to dismiss.”
“If a person is hungry, you’ll say, ‘Oh, you’re hungry? What’s the next step then? Of course, you’ll eat if you’re hungry.’ With us, lawyers, it’s the same thing. If a certain motion is filed, we already know what they’re going to file next,” sinabi ni Tongol, sa isang forum nitong Sabado, Hunyo 21.
“That’s not lawyering for one party. This is based on our experience as a lawyer, as already corroborated by other lawyers in other fields,” dagdag pa.
Samantala, sinabi naman ni Antipolo City 2nd District Rep. Romeo Acop na ang hindi pagpili na isulong ang impeachment ni Duterte ay nagbibigay ng maling mensahe na ang may pinipili ang hustisya at para lamang ito sa mga mahihirap at walang kakayahan.
“We’re not picking fights. I’m just protecting the dignity of the court,” giit niya.
“Nothing good will come out of destroying the credibility of the court… You may not respect some of the individual senator-judges. But, the institution itself, the institutional independence of the Senate as an impeachment court must be respected,” pagpapatuloy nito.
Si Duterte ay inireklamo ng culpable violation of the Constitution, bribery, graft and corruption, betrayal of public trust at iba pang krimen partikular na ang umano’y maling paggamit sa P612.5 million ng confidential funds.
Ayon kay Tongol, si Duterte ay mayroong hanggang Lunes para sagutin ang summons na ipinadala sa kanya ng impeachment court. RNT/JGC
