PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday rejected calls seeking to oust Vice President Leni Robredo through impeachment, even as a group of lawyers bared plans to file a second complaint against her.
“Look, we just had an election. Guys, lay off. Stop it,” Duterte said upon arriving from a four-day official visit to Myanmar and Thailand.
“You can do other things but do not tinker with the structure of government. I will not countenance it,” he said.
Duterte warned that an impeachment case would only create more trouble in the country, especially now that security forces face so many challenges.
“The elections just finished. Why would you [tear] the country apart? If I won’t wake up tomorrow because of a bad dream, then she’ll be next [President]. You create trouble,” the President said.
Any move to impeach Robredo would not be supported by the military, Duterte added.
“Why would you want to add to their problems? Even the police. Who will keep order in this country if not them?” Duterte said in Filipino.
“They might say all you want is trouble. Our life was getting better because the elections were over. You know, this is a democracy,” he added.
House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, secretary-general of the ruling party PDP-Laban, threatened to muster the super majority in the House to impeach Robredo for allegedly plotting the first impeachment complaint filed against Duterte.
Calling themselves the “Impeach Leni Team,” Interior Assistant Secretary Epimaco Densing III, lawyers Bruce Rivera and Trixie Cruz-Angeles, and political science professor Antonio Contreras said they are building up their case against Robredo.
All groups are using as grounds the vice president’s video shown at a side event of the 60th annual meeting of the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs, claiming that her speech constituted a culpable violation of the Constitution and a betrayal of public trust, which are both impeachable offenses under the Constitution.
Alvarez on Thursday said the House stands by its constitutional duty to hear impeachment complaints against high-ranking officials.
In a text message sent to reporters, Alvarez said that while he respects the position of President Duterte, he said the House should still do its mandate under the Constitution.
Alvarez, in a separate interview, further cited the separation of powers in government in pushing through with the impeachment of Robredo.
His remarks came after Duterte rejected moves to impeach Robredo, saying these would be divisive.
Alvarez said that he is still studying the impeachment complaint against Robredo, noting that it should be sufficient in substance to send to the Senate for trial.
Alvarez also slammed Robredo for her “shameless” and “irresponsible” act of putting the country in a bad light before the international community by sending a video message to the United Nations, where she criticized the Duterte administration’s anti-drug campaign.
On Monday, the first impeachment complaint against the vice president was filed by Oliver Lozano and perennial senatorial candidate Melchor Chavez, who asked for Alvarez’s endorsement.
Robredo told her supporters to exercise sobriety.
“That is correct that we are besieged by chaos. But what I am asking of you is to stay calm. We ask you to stay brave in times of many troubles and darkness,” she said.
She said she would not retract her message to the UN.
Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III said in a text message that an impeachment complaint against Robredo would distract from more important work.
“It should be resorted to as the last card against an erring high official for serious and grave reasons. It should not be treated lightly,” Pimentel’s message said.
Senator JV Ejercito said he was glad the President issued a statement against the impeachment of Robredo, saying this showed he was a statesman.
He said impeachment complaints against Duterte and Robredo would just cause political instability.
Senator Paolo Benigno Aquino IV said the impeachment complaint might prosper in the House if its leaders bully and threaten the congressmen, as they did for the vote on the death penalty bill.
“But I have faith that my fellow legislators can still stand up to pressure that may be put on them and act fairly on the matter,” he said.