The impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte will not stop the criminal case filed against her before a Quezon City court, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
DOJ spokesperson Atty. Polo Martinez said the two proceedings are being handled separately and should not affect each other.
The Senate is handling the impeachment case, while the Quezon City Regional Trial Court is hearing the grave threats case filed against Duterte.
“We know that the impeachment proceedings are under the domain of the legislature right now. The Senate, the senators are the judges,” Martinez said in an interview Tuesday, Aug. 11.
He also dismissed claims that developments in the impeachment proceedings had an effect on the criminal case, pointing out that the evidence used in the two proceedings is not the same.
“What happened in the impeachment proceeding is different from what was done in the trial,” Martinez said.
The DOJ spokesperson added that the evidence presented during the preliminary investigation of the grave threats case was also different from the evidence presented in the impeachment proceedings.
“So it’s not accurate to say that one proceeding affected the other,” Martinez said.IMT
