House leaders: Let DOJ decide on VP Duterte’s death threats

Vice President Sara Duterte — File photo from the House of Representatives

MANILA, Philippines — Let the Department of Justice (DOJ) determine Vice President Sara Duterte’s criminal liability for her alleged death threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez. This is according to the leaders of the House of Representatives.

This developed as the House concurrently addressed two impeachment complaints covering the same allegations.

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Bataan 1st District Rep. Geraldine Roman, House Committee on Women and Gender Equality chairperson, on Sunday underscored the separation of powers.

Roman said that Congress would focus on the impeachment proceedings while the DOJ would handle potential criminal liability.

She said, partly in Filipino, in a statement, “That is a totally separate and independent process. We each have our jobs. As far as we are concerned, we have the mandate to process this impeachment complaint.”

She further stressed the need for government agencies “to work independently and transparently.”

“We’re not the ones who are going to tell the justice department to do their work. But we should let our government agencies do their work freely, independently, with transparency, with honesty,” she said.

Meanwhile, Assistant Majority Leader and Tingog Party-list Rep. Jude Acidre said it would be important for the public to understand the distinction between the impeachment process in Congress and the DOJ’s criminal investigation.

“This is under the DOJ, a separate process within the executive branch involving the criminal liability of the vice president. This is different from the impeachment process in the lower house, which is a political and legislative procedure,” Acidre explained in Filipino.

1st impeachment complaint

The first impeachment complaint, filed on Monday by civil society and religious groups, accuses Duterte of culpable violations of the Constitution, graft and corruption, bribery, betrayal of public trust, and high crimes.

This includes the reported death threats she supposedly made against the country’s top leaders.

Meanwhile, the second impeachment complaint filed on Wednesday, cites betrayal of public trust, focusing on various issues related to the use of confidential funds by the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education, which she previously chaired.