By Gonzalo Duque

 

THE 20th Congress is about to unfold on June 28.

The members of the prosecution panel for the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte are now itching to do their work and be given the chance to grandstand and crucify Sara without mercy.

On the other hand, Sara has tapped the best lawyers in town, led by Atty. Siegfried Fortun and his associates.

There will certainly be a legal brawl in the Senate!

But wait. This may not happen if the Supreme Court intervenes by declaring that the fourth impeachment complaint is unconstitutional by reason that three other impeachment complaints were not endorsed by the House Secretary General to the office of the Speaker, who is then supposed to endorse them to the Committee on Justice.

The only legal question is whether the Secretary General of the House had the discretion not to endorse the three earlier complaints to meet the deadline to have the impeachment complaint filed within 10 session days or acted upon within 10 session days.

Senator Joel Villanueva has just said that the impeachment trial will proceed on August 4, 2025.

Let’s wait and see if the brawl will happen.

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I am really amazed at what Mayor Belen Fernandez did to the contractor of the new city hall, Robert Matias.

My good friend, Robert, did not continue with the construction of the new city hall, which was started by the previous Lim administration, because of his fear that Mayor Belen would no longer allow him to proceed with the project’s second phase, worth P30 million.

To the surprise of Robert, Mayor Belen released the P30 million and allowed Robert to continue with the project so the city hall can be finished by 2026, but with the infusion of another P50 million to finally complete it. 

Robert should thank Mayor Belen for her gesture of allowing him to continue with the project.

If such a project were yet under the Lim administration, we can more or less expect the opposite gesture.

Mayor Belen is not known to be a vindictive public servant.

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My good friend Dada Reyna is now finding herself a loner in the Dagupan Sangguniang Panlungsod.

The majority bloc had adopted the position that she could not be given any committee membership representing the minority.

She asked the DILG for an opinion on whether she is entitled to be considered as the minority floor leader.

To her surprise, the DILG did not agree with her.

According to the DILG opinion, there is nothing in the Local Government Code or the rules in the Sangguniang Panlungsod entitling her to such a position.

Councilor Chito Samson, recalling what the majority in the past Sanggunian did to the former minority, was saying “weather, weather lang ito”, quoting from no less than former President Erap Estrada.

My advice to Dada is to just support Mayor Belen’s programs and collect her salary and allowance, if any.

Kolektahin mo na lang ang salary mo!

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I miss Ermin, not being able to partner with me in analyzing many local and national issues. 

Magpagaling ka partner, because our fans are missing us. 

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