REPRESENTATIVE Corina L. Magofna on Tuesday said the five-member team of impeachment prosecutors formed by Speaker Edmund S. Villagomez is going to stand its ground.
“As a team, we’ve discussed that we are going to stand our ground and proceed forward with the request that we prosecute as a team and not as a sole prosecutor,” she said.
Magofna, along with Reps. Celina R. Babauta, Leila Haveia F. Staffler, Donald M. Manglona, and House Vice Speaker Blas Jonathan T. Attao, filed a notice last week of their appearance as a collective prosecutorial unit in the Senate impeachment trial of Governor Ralph DLG Torres.
Based on the Senate rules, the House speaker “shall serve as the House prosecutor.”
If the speaker declines to serve as prosecutor, the Senate rules state, “then the Chairperson of the House Impeachment Committee…shall serve” as prosecutor.
If the chairperson declines to serve, “then the Senate President shall select a House member to serve as” prosecutor.
Both Speaker Villagomez and Vice Speaker Attao have declined to serve as House prosecutor, saying that the Senate rules are “unconstitutional.”
Last week, Senate President Jude U. Hofschneider named Rep. Corina Magofna as the House prosecutor.
Like Villagomez and Attao, Magofna told the Senate president that she was “unable to accept or decline notice to file an appearance in this matter.”
The Senate president said the governor’s impeachment trial will proceed with or without a House prosecutor.
Asked for comment last week, the speaker said, “Yes, it’s possible for them to go ahead and proceed without a team of prosecutors from the House…. There’s really nothing much we can do to prevent that.”
Magofna on Tuesday said the House leadership is still discussing the matter.
“We’re still in discussion. When I say ‘we,’ I mean the leadership. Whatever the leadership decides, that is the way that we will go, but for now, that’s kind of the thought process: that we will…proceed forward as a team,” she added.
In a separate interview, Speaker Villagomez said he will meet with the House team of prosecutors and the House legal counsel to discuss the issue as well as the deficiencies in the House impeachment record that were identified by the Senate clerk.
The House clerk was given 48 hours on Monday to bring the House impeachment record into compliance with the Senate impeachment rules.
“I need to meet with the team,” the speaker said. “I need to meet with the clerk, and I need to see where we’re at, and if 48 hours is doable or not. Maybe we need to request a little extension to make sure that we cross our t’s and dot our i’s. I wish I could give you further comments, but I need to seek more clarification.”
Pursuant to Senate Impeachment Rule 9(e)(2) states:
“If the House Clerk fails to submit the appropriate certification within the forty-eight-hour period, then the House Impeachment Record shall be automatically stricken and the impeachment matter shall proceed in the Senate without an impeachment record and the Impeachment Prosecutor shall not be allowed to appear or participate in the Senate proceedings and the Senate hearing in any manner whatsoever. The Articles of Impeachment shall be presented to the Senate for final verdict and judgment….”
The governor was impeached by the House of Representatives on January 12, 2022 by a vote of 15 to 4 with 1 abstention, on allegations of felonies of theft, corruption and neglect of duty. He has denied the charges.
At least six of the nine senators must vote to convict in order to remove the governor from office.
Corina Magofna
