SENATORS yesterday said no political issues, much less the impeachment complaints filed against Vice President Sara Duterte at the House of Representatives, were discussed during their Monday night dinner that was hosted by President Marcos Jr. and First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos in Malacañang.
The First Lady posted a photo of the fellowship dinner in her official social media accounts on Tuesday.
The dinner coincided with the “National Rally for Peace” organized by the religious group Iglesia ni Cristo, which was attended by an estimated 1.8 million members across the country, in support of the President’s position against moves initiated by several sectors to oust the Vice President amid questions on her questionable spending of the confidential funds of the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education when she was the concurrent education secretary.
Three impeachment complaints against Duterte have been filed at the House. A fourth complaint is expected. The House leadership has yet to act on the three complaints that have been filed.
The President has previously said that he is against any move to impeach Duterte, saying that this would just be a waste of time.
Senate President Francis Escudero said the Monday night gathering was just a “chillax dinner,” which he and Sen. JV Ejercito said was “purely socials” in nature.
Escudero said there was no formal program or official matters that were discussed during the get-together, a statement also echoed by Ejercito.
“Purely socials. We didn’t even discuss any political issue,” Ejercito said.
Escudero said the dinner was originally scheduled in December last year.
“Our respective spouses were also invited, and most were there. It was purely socials and part of the regular/seasonal gathering between the members of the Senate and the President. It was originally planned last December but the Christmas season made it difficult to find a schedule. The last one was sometime in June before the opening of Congress in July,” Escudero said in a Viber message to the media.
Senate minority leader Aquilino Pimentel III said the gathering was “scheduled months ago,” adding that it was not influenced by recent events.
“Not pre-determined or influenced by any other event,” Pimentel said.
Escudero said Sen. Grace Poe also attended the gathering but arrived after the group’s picture taking, explaining her absence in the photo uploaded by the First Lady.
Senators Ronald dela Rosa, Cristopher Go, and presidential sister Imee Marcos did not attend the dinner.
It was not clear if the three senators were not invited to the gathering.
Escudero said that to his knowledge, all senators were invited, “but you have to ask the Palace Protocol to confirm because they were the ones that sent the invites and am just a mere invitee.”
Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, in an ambush interview at the sidelines of the launching of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) Asia and the Pacific Regional meeting at the DBM office in Manila, said the get-together was a “very social and private affair.”
Asked to comment about the Vice President’s supposed plans to run for president in the 2028 national elections, Bersamin was it still too early to talk about the matter.
“I think it’s still premature but it’s her privilege,” he said. – With Jocelyn Montemayor