The House of Representatives on Tuesday, May 12, formed its 11-man prosecution panel for Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial in the Senate.
The move comes after Senator Alan Peter Cayetano unseated Senator Vicente “Tito” Sotto III as Senate President in a 13–9 vote. Although the leadership shake-up has fueled concerns about the possible impact of the vice president’s impeachment proceedings, the House of Representatives on Monday impeached VP Duterte for a second time.
Following this, Assistant Majority Floor Leader and Las Piñas Rep. Mark Anthony Santos moved to elect 11 lawmakers as members of the prosecution panel, namely:
- Justice Committee Chairperson and Batangas 2nd District Rep. Gerville Luistro
- Bukidnon 2nd District Rep. Jonathan Keith Flores
- San Juan City Rep. Ysabel Zamora
- Iloilo 3rd District Rep. Lorenz Defensor
- Manila 3rd District Rep. Joel Chua
- Mamamayang Liberal Rep. Leila de Lima
- Akbayan Partylist Rep. Chel Diokno
- Bicol Saro Partylist Rep. Terry Ridon
- 1-Rider Partylist Rep. Rodge Gutierrez
- Cagayan De Oro 1st District Rep. Lordan Suan
- Dinagat Islands Rep. Kaka Bag-ao
The motion was approved before the session ended.
Five of the names mentioned in the panel were also part of the original list of lawmakers elected when Duterte was first impeached last year.
On May 4, the House Committee on Justice approved by a 55–0 vote the Committee Report accompanying the resolution setting forth the Articles of Impeachment against the vice president. This follows the committee’s finding of probable cause to impeach the latter.
