President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday again dismissed as no big deal an impeachment complaint filed against him at the House of Representatives, saying that he does not care if he is ousted, killed, or stayed in office for just a year.
“Then it would be part of my destiny,” Duterte told an audience of lawyers at the Integrated Bar of the Philippines' (IBP) 16th National Convention for Lawyers at a hotel in Pasay City.
“I do not give a shit if I stay here fore only one year of if barilin ako or if I’m ousted… Yung takutin ako: impeachment, coup d etat, beterano ako," he said.
"I never thought really na maging president ako…. and I do not need the presidency at this time of my life. Ako pa takutin, susmaryosep, di uwi ako,” Duterte added.
Magdalo Party-List Rep. Gary Alejano has filed an impeachment complaint against Duterte for alleged high crimes, betrayal of public trust, and abuse of power.
The president called out Alejano and Senator Antonio Trillanes IV’s group for allegedly pretending to be crusaders and Filipino nationalists, when they could not see through their causes as soldiers.
Trillanes is one of Duterte’s staunches critics, calling the former Davao City mayor as a “mass murderer”. The senator is supporting two self-confessed Davao Death Squad (DDS) members, Edgar Matobato and Arturo Lascañas, who admitted to killing people allegedly upon then Duterte’s orders or of the mayor's trusted men.
Duterte has repeatedly denied involvement in the so-called death squad, stressing that all past investigations into its existence yielded negative results.
“Ito na mga Pilipino na ‘nationalist,' pumunta ng Peninsula, ninakaw magagandang linen, lahat, pati piano kinarga. Ni-ransack lahat. Pagdating ng mga pulis, sumurrender. Tapos ngayon sila yung akala mo,‘crusader,’” Duterte said.
“Itong si Trillanes, mabuti pa security guard dito,” he added.
Duterte hit back at Trillanes’ group for being behind moves to oust him from office.
“Prangka tayo, they want me ousted. Who’s behind it? Itong si Trillanes, him and his elf, itong si De Lima, gusto na niya akong paalisin. Pangatlo, si Leni (Vice-President Robredo), bakit pa siya maghintay [to be president] eh nandyan na opportunity,” he said.
Robredo also faces a separate impeachment complaint at the House of Representatives, with more complaints to be filed against her by other quarters for allegedly uttering “lies” and “misrepresenting” the Filipino people and the true state of affairs in the country in a recorded video sent to the United Nations Commission on Narcotics Drugs.
Source : ABS-CBN