00:00Congressman Keith Flores,
00:01all of you here have been saying yes
00:03for impeachment. You're only
00:06abstained. But
00:07you're a public prosecutor now.
00:09Can you tell us why? What's the reason?
00:11Why are you abstained? And why are you
00:13being a public prosecutor?
00:15Well, being
00:17prosecutor is the collective wisdom of
00:19the members of Congress.
00:21I was nominated and elected.
00:23And after that, I
00:25took on the role as public prosecutor.
00:27Back to Congressman Keith Flores,
00:29if you may just expound
00:31personal political
00:33reasons for not
00:35voting in favor of
00:37or for not
00:39for basically not voting
00:41for impeachment. Given that
00:43last year, you also
00:45if I'm not mistaken, you signed
00:47the impeachment case against
00:49the vice president. And does it
00:51undermine the optics of the
00:54prosecution team that
00:55one of the members
00:58didn't vote in favor of impeachment?
01:00Well, again, as I said, it's
01:02personal political reasons. But
01:04it's not the first time that a
01:06public prosecutor was
01:07nominated and elected
01:09in the impeachment process as a
01:11public prosecutor. It happened
01:12before
01:12when a public prosecutor also did
01:15not vote for the articles of
01:16impeachment but was
01:17nominated and elected by the
01:19House. Again, as I said, I yield
01:22to the collective wisdom of the
01:23members of the House when they
01:25elected me.
01:26Is part of the reason,
01:27based on consultation with
01:29constituents, did that play a
01:31role in why
01:31you didn't vote in favor of
01:33impeachment?
01:34Well, yes, that played a factor
01:35of my decision on
01:37abstaining. But it wasn't
01:39because of the articles of
01:41impeachment.
01:41I could not, in good
01:43conscience, vote against the
01:45articles of impeachment because
01:46I was present all along when
01:48the Committee on Justice heard
01:50the evidence presented.
01:52When you say, sir, that
01:55your constituents played a
01:57role, is it because you
01:58consulted them and they had
02:01citations, they had
02:02reservations when it comes to
02:04the impeachment case?
02:05Well, I think it cannot be
02:06denied that there are a lot of
02:09people in Mindanao who are
02:10actually for the Vice
02:12President. So, that playing a
02:14factor, yes, that played a
02:15factor also in my
02:17considerations, whether to
02:18vote or not to vote. But
02:20also, as far as the, maybe the
02:23trust and confidence of the
02:24members of the House, maybe
02:25because I was already a
02:26member of the impeachment
02:28prosecutors in the previous
02:29year and my familiarity with
02:31the case being a Vice
02:32Chairperson of the Committee
02:33of Justice that played the
02:34role in their decision in
02:35electing me as one.
02:36Ano po ang pwede naming
02:37asahan sa inyo as
02:39prosecutor? Kasi nga, you
02:40abstained. I know you
02:41mentioned some reasons
02:42earlier, pero hindi po ba
02:45sort of requirement among
02:47prosecutors na naniniwala sa
02:49articles of impeachment na
02:50kanilang didepensahan at
02:52ipipresenta sa Senado?
02:53That's why I said earlier that
02:55I could not in good conscience
02:56vote against the articles of
02:57impeachment because nakita
03:00naman natin yung evidence that
03:01was presented before the
03:02Committee on Justice and it was
03:04unreputed by the Vice
03:06President because she did not
03:08counter it at all. So, for me,
03:11parang, it's easy. It's an easy
03:13decision. I'm taking on the
03:15role because not only was I
03:16elected, but because I also saw
03:19what was presented before the
03:20Committee on Justice.
03:22Just to speak for the
03:23entirety of the panel, I don't
03:25think we have any doubt on the
03:28confidence, integrity, and
03:31expertise of Congressman Flores to
03:34take on the role of a public
03:36prosecutor. To be clear, the
03:39choice and selection, election of
03:41the public prosecutor is based on
03:44their, syempre, karanasan po bilang
03:46lingkod bayan at karanasan din po
03:49bilang mga abogado. At atingin
03:51naman po namin ay competent si
03:54Congressman Flores to take on the
03:55role as a public prosecutor. And I
03:58would like to thank Kong Terry for
03:59that.
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