Mamamayang Liberal (ML) Party-list Representative Leila de Lima on Monday rejected claims that there is no “smoking gun” evidence against Vice President Sara Duterte in the two remaining impeachment complaints.
The House Committee on Justice earlier ruled the third and fourth complaints sufficient in form, with deliberations on their sufficiency in substance set for Tuesday.
De Lima pointed to video footage and interviews where Duterte allegedly threatened to kill the President, the First Lady, and the then House Speaker, calling these “smoking gun” evidence.
“I beg to disagree. The video containing the Vice President’s threat to kill the President, the First Lady and then House Speaker, as well as the media interview where she affirmed it is a smoking gun,” she said.
She also cited documents showing payments or debts under fictitious names as further proof, including alleged recipients of confidential and intelligence funds with no record in the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
Among those named was Mary Grace Piattos, whom De Lima described as a non-existent individual, underscoring the alleged irregularities.
Meanwhile, Batangas 2nd District Representative Gerville Luistro, chairperson of the House Committee on Justice, said the impeachment process would now move faster with only two complaints left for deliberation.
“Apparently, we will be able to move faster considering that we have two impeachment complaints na lang compared to when we started this morning when we had four,” Luistro said.