MANILA — All 318 members of the House of Representatives will be given sufficient time to read the articles of impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte before the expected plenary vote on May 11, Justice Committee chairperson Gerville Luistro of Batangas said.

In a radio interview, Luistro said the move is part of due process and in compliance with a Supreme Court (SC) ruling on a prior impeachment attempt.

“Ang sabi nila diyan (The SC said that), before the plenary vote, the House members should be provided with a copy of the committee report, the resolution, and the articles of impeachment, most especially the articles of impeachment and the attached evidence,” she said.

“They should be given (a) reasonable time to read and study the same before the plenary vote. That’s part of due process,” she added.

The House Justice Committee unanimously approved the committee report containing the consolidated articles of impeachment in a 55-0 vote on Monday, following the finding of probable cause on two complaints dated April 29.

The report was sent to the Bills and Index and is expected to be included in the agenda of the Committee on Rules.

Luistro said that once the Committee on Rules refers the articles to the plenary, copies will be distributed to all 318 lawmakers, the Vice President as respondent, and the complainants.

“After pang mai-refer ng Rules (After the Rules committee referred it) back to the plenary, the plenary should order, should direct the Secretary General to provide copies to all the House members,” she said.

Lawmakers will then be given five days to review the documents and supporting evidence, placing the plenary vote on track for May 11.

“So, if that will happen today, then we have Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. I think five days is a reasonable period for the House members to be able to read and study,” Luistro said.

“From my perspective as the justice chair, given the five-day period na ibibigay natin (given) to the House members to study, I think by May 11, the plenary should be ready to vote,” she added.

Senior Deputy Majority Leader Lorenz Defensor of Iloilo, also a member of the Justice Committee, said the impeachment process is designed to ensure all evidence is properly examined.

“Sadyang matagal ang proseso ng impeachment kasi dapat mabigyan ng pagkakataon na mailatag ang ebidensya para magkaroon kami ng sapat na batayan para makaboto ng intelihente at bigyan din ng pagkakataon ang mga respondent, katulad ng vice president, na kung gusto niya sumagot ay may panahon at pagkakataon siya sumagot (The impeachment process is, on purpose, very long because there should be enough time to present the evidence for us to have ample basis to vote intelligently, as well as to give the respondents, like the Vice President, time to respond to the allegations if she wants to),” he said.

Defensor said Duterte still has the opportunity to respond and potentially have the case dismissed before reaching the Senate trial stage, if she presents sufficient evidence.

However, he noted that she did not attend committee hearings despite being given the chance to respond.

“It’s always part of due process; nonetheless, the Vice President was given every opportunity to attend and to debunk,” he said.

Defensor also said that with 55 votes already secured in the Justice Committee, only 51 more votes are needed in the House plenary to meet the one-third threshold required for impeachment. He expressed confidence that the numbers are present based on the evidence and proceedings.