PRESIDENT Marcos Jr. yesterday said Malacañang had no hand in the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte even as he said he talked with House members about the issue in the past.
The President, in a press conference in Malacañang, said that after the complaint was filed, lawmakers did not have a choice but to process the complaints.
“The House has no choice, the Senate has no choice, they need to process the impeachment complaint. And that’s precisely what has happened,” he said in mixed Filipino and English.
The House impeached Duterte on Wednesday with 215 votes, much more than the Constitution requires for a complaint to be sent directly to the Senate for trial.
The President said while the members of the House signed the complaint, they did not defy his call for them to forgo the process as it would just be a waste time and would not benefit the people. Marcos has said the timing of the impeachment move was “very poor” because the complaints were filed while the government is in the thick or preparations for the May 2025 midterm elections. The first three complaints were filed in December last year.
Marcos, at the conference, said none of his allies in the House filed a complaint.
“I am sure that the parties that filed the impeachment cases felt strongly about it. And despite my importunings and expressing my opinion that we really – we’d rather not have the impeachment, they continued to do that. So, it’s not defiance (on the part of the House),” he said.
On whether Malacañang had a role in the impeach move, he said, “No, the executive cannot have a hand in the impeachment. Walang role ang executive sa impeachment. (The executive branch had no role in the impeachment). Of course, did we discuss it with the Speaker, did we discuss it with the other congressmen? Of course,” he said.
He said he does not need to give the House members any “guidance.”
“They will decide how they will proceed. I don’t think you can expect the congressman, or the senator, or the SP (Senate President), or the Speaker to come to me, ‘Oh, what do you want us to do?’ They have their own way of doing things,” the President said.
“I do not give guidance to Congress. Again, you give too much credit that I can tell congressmen to do this, and to do that. I cannot. I do not give guidance to Congress. We are independent of each other,” Marcos added.
The 215 signatories were led by presidential son, Ilocos Norte Rep. Sandro Marcos.
The complaint accuses Duterte of culpable violation of the Constitution, bribery, graft and corruption, betrayal of public trust, and other high crimes.
Marcos said no ally was involved in filing the complaints.
“I am sure that the parties that filed the impeachment cases felt strongly about it. And despite my importunings and expressing my opinion that we really – we’d rather not have the impeachment, they continued to do that. So, it’s not defiance (on the part of the House),” he said.
The first three impeachment complaints were filed by members of Akbayan, the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, a group of religious workers, lawyers and members of civil society.
On Sandro, the President said he just told him to do his duty, and he did not expect him to be the first one to sign the complaint.
“I told him, ‘Do your duty. You have to support the process. You are constitutionally mandated to carry out that process. And you’re a congressman, so do your duty.’ That’s what I told him. I didn’t know he’ll be the first to sign though,” the President said.
Asked if he would call for a special session, to enable the Senate to constitute itself as an impeachment court and deliberate over the complaint during the break, the President said “yes” if the senators ask for it.
He said he would not call one if there is no request, and there is none currently.
On the claims of Davao Representative Paolo Duterte, that the impeachment against his sister was an abuse of power, Marcos said it was not surprising and even expected.
“What else will he say? It is unlikely that he will say that everything is right. Nothing surprising,” he said.
`CONSTUTIONAL DUTY’
The House prosecution panel in the impeachment case said the House is only exercising its constitutional duty to hold erring public officials accountable, dismissing the allegations of Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte who said that the move was “politically motivated.”
Manila Rep. Joel Chua, who is a member of the 11-man prosecution team, said the impeachment initiative went through a rigorous process such as party consultations and evidence gathering before sending the Articles of Impeachment to the Senate for trial last Wednesday.
Rep. Duterte, the elder brother of the Vice President, has said the “sinister maneuvering” of certain lawmakers “to hastily collect signatures and push for the immediate approval and transmittal of this baseless impeachment case is a clear act of political persecution.”
Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong, who is not a member of the prosecution panel, said an additional 25 lawmakers have expressed willingness to endorse the complaint.
It will depend on the impeachment rules that the Senate will adopt if the additional signatories will still be accepted. If the process will permit, this will raise the total number of signatories from 215 to 240, representing more than 75 percent of the House’s membership.
Chua, chair of the House committee on good government and public accountability, said the public knows very well that the most of the issues hounding the Vice President were discovered by lawmakers in the panel’s hearings on Duterte’s alleged misuse of hundreds of millions on confidential funds in both her office and in the Department of Education (DepEd), which she used to head as secretary until June last year.
Chua could not say who led the gathering of signatures.
4TH COMPLAINT
Rep. Ramon Rodrigo Gutierrez (PL, 1-Rider), a member of the prosecution panel, said that while discussions on impeachment were still ongoing, the three previous impeachment complaints did not gain enough momentum to consolidate broad support, which prompted the majority to file the fourth one which was what reached the Senate.
“Admittedly, it’s a long time coming po. We each congressman, although we’ve talked about impeachment, we’ve already formed opinions from the hearings of the Quad Comm and the Good Government committees,” he said.
The House archived the first three impeachment complaints filed in December by various groups, and endorsed by some House members, to give way to the majority’s complaint.
Iloilo Rep. Lorenz Defensor, who is also a member of the panel, said party consultations had been taking place since the first impeachment complaint was filed by the groups led by Akbayan party-list.
SMEAR CAMPAIGN
The lawmakers also slammed allegations that they were offered financial incentives or “ayuda” in exchange for their signatures, calling it a “smear campaign” designed to discredit the process.
“We categorically deny such allegations,” Gutierrez said. “This was an independent action. We believe it was done faithfully and truthfully by each member. They signified their intention and support of the impeachment complaint based on the merits of the case and nothing more,” he added.
Asked if Duterte’s remaining popularity in many areas of the country, especially in Mindanao, would affect their chances in the midterm polls, Adiong acknowledged that the Duterte family still has strong support in certain areas, particularly in Mindanao.
He however stressed that lawmakers “must prioritize their duty to uphold the Constitution over political considerations.”
“Once you are elected to an office, you are expected not only by the Constitution but by the people to act in certain ways,” Adiong said. “We cannot turn a blind eye and be more concerned about the possible backlash that it may cause us politically,” he further explained.
Defensor said that while there will be consequences to every elective official, he would have been heavily criticized more if he did not sign the complaint against the Vice President. – With Wendell Vigilia
