The public will judge whether the House of Representatives treats impeachment complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte the same way it handled complaints filed against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

This was the statement from the Makabayan Bloc after the House Justice Panel leadership assured that the committee would apply the same approach in handling impeachment complaints against the Vice President as it did with those against PBBM.

"The public will judge whether they think the handling of both complaints will be equal," said ACT Teachers Partylist Rep. Antonio Tinio, an endorser of the first impeachment complaint against VPSD.

(Publiko ang huhusga kung sa tingin nila ay magiging pantay ba ang paghandle sa dalawang complaints.)

The majority of House members continue to support the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who remains in a serious rift with Vice President Sara Duterte. 

This is why Tinio believes PBBM's allies will ensure the impeachment complaints against the Vice President pass through the House Justice Committee and even the plenary, unlike the impeachment complaints against PBBM, which were immediately dismissed by the House.

The public, he said, will see whether the House of Representatives provides equal treatment to impeachment complaints against the President and Vice President. Makabayan lawmakers are endorsers of impeachment complaints against both of the government's highest officials.

"If the standards we're talking about were excessively applied to the impeachment complaint against the President to dismiss it, will they do the same or will they be more lenient? So it remains to be seen," Tinio said.

(Publiko ang huhusga kung sa tingin nila ay magiging pantay ba ang paghandle sa dalawang complaints.)

Kabataan Partylist Rep. Renee Co expressed concern over the possible effects of the new rules adopted by the House Committee on Justice regarding the determination of "sufficiency in substance" or the weight of the basis for impeachment complaints, particularly regarding the authenticity of evidence attached to impeachment complaints.

"This additional rule that was voted on is really a hurdle, and we have house justice committee members who said this is impractical and not based on the usual practice or rules of the court, which is more accustomed to these hearings. If there are many attachments, even before the actual hearing, we'll take a long time just hurdling the sufficiency in substance portion," Co said.

(“So itong additional rule na pinagbotohan pa, hurdle talaga yan and we have house justice committee members na that said na impraktikal po talaga ito at hindi po ito nakabatay sa usual practice or rules of the court kung saan mas sanay sa hearings na ito (jc) at kung napakaraming attachments, wala pa sa hearing proper, matatagalan pa tayo sa paghurdle lang ng sufficiency in substance portion.”)

Earlier, House Justice Committee Chairperson and Batangas 2nd District Rep. Gerville Luistro assured that the committee would implement the same deliberation process for impeachment complaints against the Vice President.

"I wish to reiterate, we are assuring the Filipino people that whatever approach, parameters, and deliberation the Justice Committee had with respect to the impeachment complaints against the President, we will be adopting the same for the purpose of evaluating impeachment complaints against the Vice President," Luistro said.

During the House's last plenary session this week, no referral to the House Justice Committee had been made regarding the three impeachment complaints against the Vice President.

Wednesday, February 11 marks the third session day since the first two impeachment complaints against VP Duterte were submitted to Speaker Faustino "Bojie" Dy III's office on February 5. The third impeachment complaint was referred to the Office of the Speaker on February 9.

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