House Committee on Justice chairperson and Batangas 2nd District Representative Gerville Luistro on Monday denied allegations of vote-buying linked to the impeachment complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte.
In a television interview, Luistro dismissed claims that lawmakers were being promised to disregard their 2025 impeachment votes in exchange for opposing this year’s complaints.
“With respect to the influence coming from the leadership, I vehemently deny having experienced any influence coming from the leadership. With respect naman to the influence coming from the camp of VP Duterte, wala rin naman akong naririnig at least personally,” she said.
Luistro emphasized that her role as Justice Committee chair is to ensure orderly proceedings.
“So for me as Justice Chair, isa lang ang focus ko—to be able to come up with an orderly and organized proceeding in a way that the Filipino people will understand. After all, this impeachment process is an extraordinary power that is given to the Filipino people,” she added.
She reiterated that it is Duterte’s prerogative whether to attend the March 25 hearing but reminded that the public has long awaited her response to the allegations.
During the session, the committee will tackle motions filed by Akbayan Party-list Representative Chel Diokno, including subpoenas for documents from the Anti-Money Laundering Council, Commission on Audit, National Bureau of Investigation, and Office of the Ombudsman, as well as a request for protective custody for witness Ramil Madriaga.
The panel will also deliberate on potential conflict-of-interest concerns if lawyers Michael Poa and Reynold Munsayac represent Duterte, given their knowledge of matters tied to the confidential funds controversy.
“These three will be addressed on Wednesday before we start the presentation of the evidence,” Luistro said.
The Justice Committee invited Duterte to attend the March 25 session after ruling that the two remaining impeachment complaints against her were sufficient in form and substance.