Vice President Sara Duterte is traveling to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on a personal trip with her family, the Office of the Vice President (OVP) announced yesterday.
The OVP said Duterte is scheduled to attend an Independence Day celebration and engage in an OVP program consultation with Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in the Southeast Asian country on June 12.
The OVP did not say whether Duterte will leave the Philippines on June 10 before the commencement of Senate impeachment proceedings on June 11.
House spokesperson Princess Abanta said the Vice President’s trip to Malaysia will not derail the impeachment proceedings against her, urging the Senate to proceed with its constitutional duty to try the case.
“The important thing is for the Senate to start the trial so that we know what will be the next step of the prosecutors and what will happen in the impeachment process,” she told reporters.
Abante explained that procedural rules account for situations in which personal service of the Articles of Impeachment cannot be made.
“I believe in the impeachment rules, there is something written about how to serve and notify the accused. The requirement is personal service, but there is also something written in the rules on what to do if personal service cannot be made.” she said.
Duterte is facing seven articles of impeachment, which include threats to the lives of the First Couple and House Speaker Martin Romualdez, inciting to sedition, loss of public trust, and misuse of public funds.
She was impeached on Feb. 5 by the House of Representatives, with the Articles of Impeachment transmitted to the Senate on the same day.
Just last month, the vice president visited Qatar and met overseas Filipino workers, then celebrated her 47th birthday in the Netherlands with her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, who is currently detained in The Hague on charges of crimes against humanity.
The younger Duterte is joined in her travels to Qatar and the Netherlands by her mother, Elizabeth Zimmerman. Senator Imee Marcos also joined her in previous meetings with Filipino communities abroad.
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline “VP Sara goes to Malaysia amid looming impeachment trial.”
