By Ade S. Fajardo

Vice President Sara Duterte faces evidence to be presented by complainants on the impeachment raps she was able to dodge last year. She had secured a favorable decision from the Supreme Court after the Senate dilly-dallied on holding a trial last year.

The House of Representatives committee on justice is set to listen to testimonies and peruse documents that relate to allegations of corruption and ill-gotten wealth.

Last week, Bicol Saro party-list Representative Terry Ridon said, “The exciting part is approaching, my friends, as the bloodbath will happen on Tuesday, in each and every arena where the vice president could be held accountable.”

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To recall, the vice president was quoted last year to have said, “I truly want a trial because I want a bloodbath.”

Three petitions have been filed in succession, one of which was signed by Duterte herself, seeking a halt to the proceedings before the House committee on justice.

The respondent apparently does not want the hearings to proceed despite all the previously expressed bravado.

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Last Friday, committee chairperson Jinky Luistro said that they will examine Duterte’s statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALNs) pre-2022 to verify whether it is true that she has unexplained wealth as alleged in the impeachment complaints.

Luistro added that records prior to Duterte’s tenure as the country’s VP continue to be relevant in determining whether or assets declared later in the documents were properly disclosed.

This is where things can get dicey because there had been public allegations of the VP sharing bank accounts with her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, that are said to contain billions of pesos accumulated when he was still mayor of Davao City.

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Since these are assets, cash in those accounts should also be reflected in the VP’s SALN during the “relevant period,” i.e., when she became an impeachable official under the Constitution.

Otherwise, it will be a case of unexplained wealth — thus proving the case of the complainants.

Prior to the 2016 presidential elections, former Senator Antonio Trillanes accused then candidate Duterte of having amassed billions in hidden bank accounts.

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Trillanes based his accusations on bank records supposedly sourced from the Anti-Money Laundering Council.

This was confirmed by then Deputy Ombudsman Melchor Arthur Carandang, who said in 2017 that the Trillanes copy of the bank records were “similar” to the records held by the AMLC.

Cash held in these bank accounts, if true, were never reported by Rodrigo and Sara Duterte in their SALNs.

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Without a restraining order from the Supreme Court the committee on justice hearings will likely proceed as scheduled.

Allegations of misuse of confidential funds may also lay the predicate for the further examination of other bank records, whether declared or undeclared. This will expose currently held accounts — including that of the VP’s husband and other close relatives.

Once compelling evidence is presented to the public it becomes even more unlikely that the judiciary will intervene in this political process./WDJ