Duterte faces more impeach raps over China

MANILA, Philippines -  Magdalo party-list Rep. Gary Alejano yesterday filed a supplemental impeachment complaint against President Duterte in which he accused the Chief Executive of selling out the national interest to China.

The additional complaint charges Duterte with betraying public trust, violating the Constitution and committing other high crimes by “failing to assert the country’s sovereignty over the Benham Rise and to protest China’s incursions in the West Philippine Sea.”

“Whose interest is the President protecting – our country’s interest or that of China? What really is the special connection between China and President Duterte? Do they have a secret deal?” Alejano asked aloud before a news conference after filing his supplemental complaint with the House of Representatives.

Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo dismissed the supplemental impeachment complaint filed by Alejano as “nonsense.”

“It’s nonsense geared for propaganda and publicity for himself,” Panelo said in a text message.

“It may even be deemed to be a second impeachment complaint which is a prohibited complaint under the one-year prohibition limiting the filing to only one complaint in a year,” he added.

The former Marine captain cited a report that before the May 2016 elections, then candidate Duterte made a trip to China.

“Did China meddle in the elections?” he asked.

Alejano recalled that since winning the presidency last year, the President’s pronouncements on the disputed territories in the West Philippine Sea “were statements of surrender to China.”

He said Duterte chose to set aside the July 12, 2016 ruling of the United Nations Permanent Court of Arbitration junking China’s nine-dash claim over most of the West Philippine Sea and recognizing at least three reefs Beijing is claiming as part of the Philippines’ 200-mile exclusive economic zone.

The contested territories include Panganiban (Mischief) Reef, where China has built military installations, and Recto (Reed) Bank, where the government has stopped oil and gas exploration projects due to Beijing’s protest.

Alejano said Duterte should have used the arbitral court’s ruling to strengthen the country’s claim over these reefs.

“Instead, the President has taken a defeatist stance and openly signaled China to go ahead with whatever it intends to do in the West Philippine Sea,” he said.

In the case of Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal, which is now controlled by China, it is clearly within the Philippine 200-mile EEZ, he said.

Alejano pointed out the shoal is only 160 miles off the coast of Zambales and Pangasinan, while it is 500 miles from the nearest coast of China’s Hainan province.

The President failed to protest China’s plan to build a monitoring or radar station in Panatag Shoal by saying he could not do anything about it, he added.

In the case of Benham Rise, an undersea expanse the UN has awarded to the Philippines, Alejano said Duterte allowed a Chinese research ship to survey it.

“Through his inaction, actions and pronouncements, he has continued to ignore our national interest because he is afraid to offend his Chinese friends,” he stressed.

Thus, Duterte must be held accountable and removed from office through the impeachment process, he said.

Responding to questions, Alejano said the “unfortunate recent developments in the House” could widen support for his impeach-Duterte initiative.

He said these events are the worsening quarrel between Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez and Davao del Norte Rep. Antonio Floirendo Jr., and Alvarez’s alleged dictatorial tendencies.

“He treats us like subordinates despite the fact that we are all elected members of Congress,” he said.

Alejano said many of his colleagues resented the Speaker’s heavy-handed treatment of members who voted against the death penalty bill.

Alvarez has purged at least 12 lawmakers, including former president and Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who lost her position as deputy speaker.

Alejano also said he would not withdraw his complaint just to stop Alvarez from making good his threat to initiate the impeachment of Vice President Leni Robredo.

“Our complaint has nothing to do with the Vice President. It’s about the abuses and excesses of President Duterte, which we are exposing as part of our duty to the public,” he said.

Source : PhilStar

Leni impeach bid to proceed

MANILA, Philippines - The impeachment of Vice President Leni Robredo will push through despite President Duterte’s call to his allies in Congress to stop it.

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II yesterday bared that Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez would proceed with the impeachment bid even after Duterte called on allies in Congress to drop the plan.

Aguirre said the President’s stand that there should be no impeachment of top executives who have been in office less than a year was a “personal opinion.”

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“Impeachment involves the power and discretion of Congress, so it will be a congressional call, not the President’s call,” Aguirre explained in an interview yesterday.

Aguirre vowed to support the impeachment complaint against Robredo based on her video message criticizing Duterte and his administration, which was sent to the United Nations commission on narcotics drugs.

Robredo’s video message, posted by the DRCNet Foundation on YouTube last March 13, was played at the “Human Rights Challenge: Responding to Extrajudicial Killings in the Drug War,” a side session at the 60th UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs annual meeting last March 16 at the Vienna International Center.

An impeachment complaint against Robredo was already filed before the House by Marcos loyalist and perennial impeachment complainant Oliver Lozano. A group of lawyers and academics supporting the Duterte administration is also preparing another complaint against her.

Alvarez believes that the Vice President might have betrayed public trust in her video message to the UN. Betrayal of public trust is one of the grounds under the Constitution for impeachment of an official, which law and political experts both consider as a numbers game.

“What she did was she humiliated the Philippines before the international community. I’m sure that aside from damaging the image of the country, that definitely will have effect in the economy,” Aguirre claimed.

Aguirre said the impeachment against Robredo, a vocal critic of the administration’s bloody war on illegal drugs, would succeed if the complainants are able to establish her violations of the Constitution.

“She could be impeached if they could prove that her claim (against the war on drugs) has no factual bases and it greatly damaged the country’s image and economy,” he suggested.

Solicitor General Jose Calida earlier express support to Robredo’s impeachment.

Calida believes its is a “treasonous act” of the Vice President to send a video message to the UN where she criticized Duterte’s war on drugs, which has seen over 7,000 killings in police operations or by vigilantes.

Calida vowed to lend the legal services of his office as a “tribune of the people” to help in the proposed impeachment of the Vice President, saying it is “unfortunate” that Robredo now “will reap the people’s wrath and contempt.”

Duterte asked his allies not to pursue the impeachment of Robredo even as he accused her of being behind the impeachment complaint filed against him by Rep. Gary Alejano of party-list group Magdalo.

Duterte’s super majority coalition in the House of Representatives is expected to throw out Alejano’s complaint. But the coalition has the numbers to impeach Robredo.

‘Liberal Party’s karma’

Highly reliable sources in the House have hinted that Alvarez, an ally of Duterte, has already garnered 100 signatures from lawmakers who will endorse Robredo’s immediate impeachment.

Only 97 signatures out of the 293 House members are needed for the impeachment complaint to be sent to the Senate, which will serve as an impeachment court. Select House members who signed the complaint will act as prosecutors while senators will be the judges.

“This is almost very reminiscent of the 185 lawmakers who signed (chief justice) Renato Corona’s impeachment in 2011 without even the benefit of reading the complaint,” a senior lawmaker said, referring to the Liberal Party’s move to send Corona’s impeachment complaint to the Senate for trial.

“And mind you, this may well be the karma of the Liberal Party who impeached Corona with hardly any evidence except the LP’s tyranny of numbers,” he added.

Robredo, a former representative of Camarines Sur, is LP’s highest elected official.

The STAR also learned that Alvarez wants the impeachment complaint to get past the House justice committee of Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali, who was in Corona’s impeachment.

“They want the complaint sent straight to the Senate, just like what they did to Corona,” the insider bared.

Duterte’s allies also enjoy a majority in the Senate, which will try Robredo in case she is impeached by the House.

Source : PhilStar

Duterte believes Robredo not part of alleged destab plots

MANILA- President Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday said he has spoken with Vice President Leni Robredo to clear the air on his allies' threat to impeach her, as well as allegations of destabilization plots against his administration.

Speaking to reporters in Bukidnon, Duterte said he believes Robredo is not involved in alleged destabilization plans against the government.

"Yes, ganito yan she mention on destab destab. Sabi niya wala ako niyan. Sabi ko Leni I believe you. Left and right kasi intriga ako wala ako kasali dyan sa impeachment, impeachment," Duterte said.

(She mentioned destabilization. She said she is not involved. I said: "Leni, I believe you. There are intrigues left and right. I am not involved in any impeachment plans.")

Duterte reiterated that he had come to the defense of Robredo when he arrived in the country from his trips to Thailand and Myanmar.

"As a matter of fact when I arrive from Thailand and Burma I said that we should not go into it. Kakatapos lang election and we go into this ousting officials including me. Sabi ko we should forget politics let the elected officials do their work," he added.

Robredo has repeatedly denied involvement in impeachment plans against the President despite accusations by Duterte's allies.

The two highest officials in the land are threatened to be removed from office by their critics.

President Duterte is facing an impeachment complaint filed by Magdalo Rep. Gary Alejano while House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said he is considering filing an impeachment complaint against Robredo for alleged "betrayal of public trust."

Source : ABS-CBN

Marcos supporter confident Duterte wont intervene in Robredo impeach bid

A lawyer supporting losing vice presidential bet Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Saturday said the impeachment complaint against Vice President Leni Robredo should push through even if it lacks the support of President Rodrigo Duterte.

Lawyer Larry Gadon, a losing senatorial candidate of the Marcos political party Kilusang Bagong Lipunan, said at a forum in Quezon City that they are confident Duterte will not intervene in a democratic process such as the possible impeachment of Robredo.

"President Duterte will always protect, will always uphold the democratic processes and this impeachment is part of the democratic processes," Gadon said.

"Hindi ito nangangahulugan na hindi namin sinusunod si President Duterte kundi ang tinitingnan lang dito ay ang kapakanan ng bansa hindi lamang kung anong mabuti kay Presidente Duterte na siya ay sundin dito sa bagay na 'to," he added.

Marcos loyalists Oliver Lozano and Melchor Chavez have endorsed an impeachment complaint against Robredo. A group of lawyers, mostly critics of Robredo, have also said they are preparing a similar complaint against the vice president.

Duterte on Thursday told Robredo's critics to "lay off" her and stop moves to impeach the vice president. He said Robredo should be allowed to speak her mind as she was merely exercising her "freedom of speech," though he has previously accused her of being in a hurry to take his position.

Former Negros Oriental representative Jacinto "Jing" Paras said during the same forum that if Duterte's remarks about the impeachment moves against Robredo are "contradictory."

"Contradictory rin yung sinasabi niya. Democracy, sinasabi niya, because Leni has been elected purportedly by the people. But democracy is also giving the power of the people to file an impeachment," Paras said.

"Medyo extreme yung sinasabi ng ating pangulo, pero sinasabi niyang ito rin ang possibility na pwede rin siyang (Duterte) tanggalin kasi democracy is either side of the coin, so to speak," he continued.

Robredo, in her video statement for a side session organized in line with the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs annual meeting, spoke about irregularities and alleged abuses in the administration's war on drugs.

Gadon believes Duterte "was only being nice" to Robredo and that he may have forgotten the contents of the vice president's speech, which he labeled as treasonous.

"The treacherous act was already committed. Perhaps President Duterte might have forgot something about it," he said. "I'm sure President Duterte will also respect the rights of the people to demand the removal of Leni Robredo."

Bongbong protest

Gadon, meanwhile, said that the Supreme Court, sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal, should hasten its decision on the petition filed by Marcos on the results of last May 2016's vice presidential election.

The lawyer said that moves to impeach Robredo can be avoided "if only the Supreme Court will act swiftly on the petition of Bongbong Marcos."

"Kung ika-calendar lang 'yan ng Supreme Court, it will be finished in three to six months," he added.

Source : GMA

Speaker calls Robredo shameless, to pursue impeachment

Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez on Thursday said he would still push through with the impeachment of Vice President Leni Robredo even without President Rodrigo Duterte’s support.

In a text message to reporters, Alvarez said the lower house, dominated by a supermajority of administration allies, should also do its mandate under the Constitution.

“We respect the President, but we have to do our duty as mandated by the Constitution.” Alvarez said.

This even though Duterte thumbed down the impeachment of his vice president and said Robredo’s criticisms of his administration’s drug war were part of freedom of expression.

In a separate television interview, Alvarez slammed Robredo for her alleged impeachable offense of taking to the United Nations her criticisms of the administration’s bloody war on drugs.

He said although it was part of Robredo’s freedom of speech to make criticisms, it was “irresponsible” for her to paint a dire picture of the country before the international community.

“Freedom of speech does not exempt an official from an irresponsible act,” Alvarez said.

He said it may be the first time in the country’s history for a vice president to do such an act.

“First time sa kasaysayan na may opisiyal na makapal ang mukha. Nagpadala ng video sa UN para siraan ang ating bansa. Nasaan ang kaniyang patriotism, love of country?” Alvarez said.

(It may be the first time in our country’s history for us to have an official that shameless. She even sent a video to the UN to destroy our country’s image. Where is her patriotism, her love of country?).

The Speaker said he has yet to hear from a group of lawyers and professors who are mulling an impeachment complaint against Robredo for betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the Constitution and other high crimes.

Impeachment moves against Robredo gained traction since Magdalo Rep. Gary Alejano filed an impeachment complaint against President Duterte for the latter’s alleged hand in the vigilante killings by the Davao Death Squad and the spate of extrajudicial killings at the height of his administration’s war on drugs, as well as his alleged P2.2 billion hidden wealth.

Alvarez led criticisms that Robredo was behind the impeachment, noting that the filing of Magdalo’s impeachment complaint coincided with her message to the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs blasting the administration’s narcotics war.

In her video, Robredo  exposed the alleged “palit ulo” scheme where poor families were rounded up by the police who would then demand that relatives  be taken in exchange for the accused drug personalities if the latter were missing.

The first impeachment complaint was endorsed for the Speaker’s support by Marcos loyalists Oliver Lozano and Melchor Chavez.

Source : Inquirer.net

Impeachment will be very divisive, says Robredo

Breaking her silence on moves to impeach her, Vice President Leni Robredo said on Thursday that her denunciation of extrajudicial killings in the administration’s drug war should not be construed as an attempt at destabilization or a desire to take over from President Duterte.

“When we verbalize dissent, it doesn’t mean we want to replace the President. We think removing a President by impeachment or whatever means, we won’t accomplish anything anymore,” she told reporters.

Robredo met with her supporters from civil society and urban poor groups in her office during which she spoke for the first time about the impeachment complaint submitted last week by two Marcos loyalists for the endorsement of Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez.

Magdalo Rep. Gary Alejano filed on March 16 an impeachment complaint against Mr. Duterte, citing his bloody campaign against drugs and alleged illegally acquired P2.2 billion in bank accounts.

“Impeachment whether against the President or me would put a halt to the things Congress should focus on. It is going to be very divisive in our country. It won’t be good in the long run,” she said.

‘Palit-ulo’ scheme

She acknowledged brickbats that came her way after she sent a video message at a United Nations-affiliated side event giving a stinging rebuke of the government’s war on drugs and exposing an alleged “palit-ulo” scheme, in which law enforcers searching for drug suspects would allow an exchange with family members or other people connected to them.

“But we never said anything that was not true,” she said.

Asked to comment on Mr. Duterte’s remark asking his allies to “let her be,” Robredo said that would be in the best interest of the nation.

“I have always been for working together. Only our dissent is being misinterpreted as destabilization,” she said.

“By working together, it doesn’t mean we agree on everything. But disagreement should not be seen as our desire to replace him,” Robredo said.

“We want to be heard because we feel strongly about certain things, like the killing of ordinary people,” she added.

Robredo also spoke about the bitter infighting between her supporters and Duterte’s. “It wastes a lot of our time, and it encourages a culture of hate among everyone,” she said.

Source : Inquirer.net