PAGLILITIS KAY MISFIT SARA

TULOY-TULOY ang proseso ng impeachment kay Misfit Sara. Diringgin ng Kapulungan ng mga Kinatawan (House of Representatives) ang dalawang reklamong impeachment laban sa kanya. May malaking pagkakataon ng muling mabubuo ang Articles of Impeachment at isusumite ito sa Senado sa lalong pinakamadaling panahon.

Hindi kami magtaka kung matuloy sa pagkakataong ito ang paglilitis kay Misfit Sara. Kapag gumulong ang katarungan, maaaring matanggal si Misfit Sara sa kanyang tungkulin bilang pangalawang pangulo sa Hunyo ng taong ito.

Kung nahatulan na “guilty” sa mga paratang si Misfit Sara, disqualified siya na tumakbo sa panguluhan sa 2028. Hindi siya makakatakbo kahit barangay captain. Hindi na siya kasali sa 2028 at tapos na ang maliligayang araw ng mga Duterte.

Kailangan maunawaan ang desisyon ng Korte Suprema na ibinaba noong nakaraang linggo. Nilinaw ng Korte Suprema na hindi sila nagdesisyon sa merito ng Articles of Impeachment na isinumite noong nakaraang taon ng Kapulungan sa Senado. Walang kapangyarihan ang Korte Suprema na hatulan ang Articles of Impeachment.

Ang idineklarang labag sa Saligang Batas ay ang paraan ng pagsumite ng Kapulungan ng mga Kinatawan ng Articles of Impeachment sa Senado. Ito ang dahilan kung bakit dalawang impeachment complaint ang agarang isinumite ng dalawang grupo laban kay Misfit Sara.

Batay sa huling desisyon ng Korte Suprema, kailangan isumite kaagad sa House Committee on Justice ang anumang impeachment complaint laban sa sinumang impeachable official. May sampung araw ang secretary-general ng Kapulungan upang isumite ito sa komite.

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ISINULAT ko ito halos anim na taon na ang nakalipas. Hindi ko alam kung pinag-usapan ito sa EDCOM 2. Hindi kasi nagbigay ng anumang salita si Kin. Roman Romulo at Jude Acidre kung may matwid na baguhin na lang ang itinatadhana ng K-12. Pakibasa:

WHICH IS BETTER? My friend Ed Nuque, an educator, has a point. Instead of calling Grades 11 and 12 as senior high school, it would be better if we call them junior college. It makes sense to use the term junior college because it liberates students from the high school mentality, or even the stigma of being in high school.

Using the phrase junior college provides them the spine to face the future. I agree with my friend. The term junior college is loaded; it gives a certain psychological boost to students. What seems to be annoying is the inability of our lawmakers and education officials to package Grades 11 and 12 so that they would be acceptable to our people.

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PAKIBASA ang ulat tungkol sa paninindigan ni Leila de Lima:

De Lima defends PBBM vs charges of kidnapping FPRRD and alleged drug addiction

FORMER senator and administration critic Leila de Lima of the Mamamayang Liberal Party List said impeachment allegations on kidnapping and drug addiction against President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. fall short of the sufficiency-in-substance standard under House rules, during a hearing of the House Committee on Justice.

Speaking during deliberations on impeachment standards, de Lima said the committee’s task at this stage is limited to determining whether a complaint meets the threshold of allegational sufficiency—not whether accusations are true, credible, or supported by conclusive evidence.

“Technically and strictly, and if we go by the standard set of the House Rules itself, the Rules of Procedure in impeachment proceedings, it’s supposed to be just, you just have to look at whether the complaint has a recital of facts constituting the impeachable offense charged and determinative of the jurisdiction of this committee,” de Lima said. She noted while it clearly has jurisdiction, sufficiency in substance requires more than sweeping conclusions.

“When we talk about substance, it refers to first whether the complaint alleges ultimate facts that if hypothetically admitted would constitute an impeachable offense,” de Lima said. “So hypothetical admission lang. Hindi pa natin titingnan kung totoo o hindi o may supporting evidence ang isang allegation of fact.”

De Lima outlined specific standards under the House Rules, emphasizing that allegations must be factual, coherent, and clearly tied to a constitutional ground for impeachment.

“A complaint is sufficient in substance when it, number one, narrates specific acts or omissions, not mere conclusions,” she said. “Number two, it shows a nexus, a connection, between the acts complained of and an impeachable ground. Kailangan konektado ‘yung allegations of facts doon sa constitutional ground.”

She added that allegations must be intelligible and non-speculative to allow the respondent to answer meaningfully. “Number three, should be intelligible and coherent, allowing the respondent to meaningfully answer,” De Lima said. “Number four, it is not purely speculative or opinion based.”

De Lima underscored that impeachment proceedings are not venues for weighing credibility at the outset. “Evidence is not weighed at this stage,” she said. “The test is allegational sufficiency, not credibility or truth.”